songerein | closed 🌠 keep your feet on the ground when your head's in the clouds

[It had been a long day at the Wild Harvest, then getting distracted by the new kitchenware shop before some groceries, but now it was time to head back home. It's exhausting, being on her feet all day, but in the more thrilling sense—she feels productive and energetic in spite of that but can't wait to curl up in a hot bath after some dinner. Tifa hadn't seen Eustace since that morning when she left the house, and that was always the part she looks forward to the most. He should be finishing up with the dogs by now, she thinks? Maybe she'll run into him on the way back to the treehouse.

Or maybe... she'll see him wandering just outside the plaza, between their house and the rest of the town. Even from behind, she would recognize him anywhere, even across the plaza, and he seems to be in someone's company. Ferran, from the looks of it? It would be a nice time to say hi and catch up.

She knows that she could never sneak up on Eustace from behind, but she jogs to catch up anyway, trying to keep as silent as a mouse to surprise them both regardless, but as she makes her approach, it becomes clear that they're not quite walking straight, and not with their usual gait. And she can hear them talking amongst themselves, so she slows her pace to strain her ears to listen first...]

[Oblivious to their little eavesdropper, Eustace just lets out a disgruntled breath as he once again looks over at Ferran.]

I told you I'm fine, you're the one who needs to be treated more.

[Ignoring the fact he got shot (just a graze!!) and had other cuts and some roughage from having to deal with Otto's nuclear reactor disaster.]

Edited 2022-06-03 01:29 (UTC)

[Ferran regards the erune with a dull stare, not that he's capable of emoting much more than that at the moment. He's got a few scrapes on his back and face, but otherwise he's not externally injured... unlike certain types!

That said, yes, he is definitely slow in his pace; he's exhausted, and the circles under his eyes are worse than usual.]

I know what being shot is like, Eustace, and it's much worse than how I'm feeling. All I need is a nap.

It's not the first time and it's just a graze, I can treat it myself. You, on the other hand, just expended an enormous amount of dreamotion and magic energy. You'll need more than just a nap.

Fine. A nap and a snack. Maybe even two naps.

[Can you sense his disdain yet!]

I'm not letting you leave the clinic until someone trained in medicine sees to that graze.

[A click of his tongue.]

Suit yourself.

[They'll be checking Ferran if that's the case anyway so whatever.]

Edited 2022-06-03 01:59 (UTC)

[It had been hard to hear everything that they said to one another without getting too close and being discovered, but Tifa had caught enough that it had made her heart sink with dread. A graze? Dreamotion and magic? The clinic?

Those were the things that stood out to her the most, and she doesn't need much more than that to finally make her presence known, catching up with them and calling out from behind with a voice that's so hardened that she surprises herself.]

What graze?

[Ferran doesn't have enough energy to be startled, so he merely turns and responds mildly.]

Eustace got hit when we were dealing with... a mess.

[How else does one describe what happened, honestly.]

[Unlike Ferran, Eustace actually stiffens a bit upon hearing her voice because he did not expect Tifa to suddenly find him like this. ...He may or may not have intended to get himself treated first before returning home to explain what happened. But as a man who has dealt many tough situations, he just schools himself and also turns to face her.

If a little belatedly.]

It's fine, like I said it was just a graze on my arm. Nothing serious.

[Tifa's eyes are drilling holes in both of them, darting between Ferran and Eustace like she's trying to see past their very poorly veiled coverup, but when they both answer so casually, she drops the bags she's been carrying, the contents spilling out, and the tomatoes rolling sadly across the ground until they stop at their feet.]

You got shot!? With a bullet?

[Like FROM A GUN?

She crushes an orange when she steps on it as she crosses over to them with such speed that she never knew she was capable of to look them both over, but her gaze lands on Ferran first.]

And you?

[Ferran's eyebrows lift slightly at Tifa's reaction—mostly the dropping of her bags. ... the shouting, though, he absolutely understands.]

Well, I didn't get shot.

[Said with a pointed look at his white-haired friend. With an aggrieved sigh:]

Did have to contain a nuclear reactor, though, which wasn't great...

[There's an internal cringe when she drops the bags, knowing full well what she's feeling right now. Yet he remains hardened in his expression. Even if he understands her concerns, he knows his situation well enough.]

You can barely walk with how much energy you used.

[They're just going to keep sniping at each other like this—]

But that's what happened. Octavius had constructed a nuclear reactor by the docks and we and others were nearby when it began to fail, so we dealt with it.

[Short. To the point. ...Maybe a little more curt than needed.]

[A little too curt for Tifa's liking, and it's getting more difficult to keep her own anger under wraps when she hears their explanations. Just some deep breaths through her nose, and everything will... be... fine. She has plenty of patience to spare... Plenty. Even if she's trying to process it all as they lay it on her all at once.]

You... dealt with it?

[A question directed at both of them, as if this is the most unbelievable thing in the world. It isn't—it shouldn't be, given everything that's happened around here, but Eustace gets that "you should know better" look from her.]

You just dealt with this nuclear reactor by containing it? And then getting shot?

[Of all people, Tifa knows what it's like being around reactors, and she knows that it's hypocritical of her to say it. Mako may not exist here, but she can figure out that it's not so different. But before either of them can give her a response, she continues, her concern growing sharper with something else.]

Were either of you planning on telling me?

Uhh... I mean...?

[He did just admit what happened as soon as she asked. Hopefully that will work in his favor? And it's not like he goes around telling all his friends about all the messes he gets himself into, so he's decently sure this is more about Eustace than him.]

It kind of... needed to be dealt with...

[This is going about as well as he expected—which is not at all. But he just remains firm in his stance.]

It's as he said. There was no time to wait and had to be taken care of immediately, otherwise this whole town would have been destroyed.

[Unlike how he usually is around her, he's being firm and clearly is not backing down.]

And we just finished with the initial clean up and sending Octavius to prison. I would assume you would rather hear it all after I got home.

[Annnnd now Ferran is about to witness the couple's first argument—and also realize they are a couple.]

[Tifa doesn't know whether she's more scared for both of them or angry at both of them. It's a weird mix of both that her expression keeps twisting between something of regret, guilt, worry, and a stifled rage. Rage that he didn't tell her first, and just went off and did it anyway. Rage that he got hurt. And rage that he had let Ferran risk his own life in this at all.

But then she's searching for where that bullet grazed Eustace, and then looking over Ferran for signs of injuries, and she doesn't know what to think anymore.]

I'd rather have heard about this before it happened, you know. I could have helped.

[Because then she might have been able to take Ferran's place in all of this. Already, she can feel the angry tears starting to well up in her eyes, and she yells her next words, the yelling more meant for Eustace while Ferran is simply getting caught in these crossfires.]

And now you're both hurt. And I wasn't there to do anything. Were you even going to tell me you got shot or that he used up all of his energy dealing with it? Or were you just...

[Sorry that you have to see this, Ferran.]

[Ferran opens his mouth slightly to protest—like Eustace, he agrees that once it was evident there was a problem, there was really no time to contact and wait for anyone before the situation got worse—but after a second, he slowly closes it to glance between the two of them with a subtle scrutiny.

Is this really only about the reactor fiasco, about being shot one time? Weren't these two involved in that horrible fake Shakespeare experience? ~~shakespearience?~~ It's far from the first time a dangerous situation has presented itself in Reverein...

For the record, though, Ferran was just fine risking himself, thank you very much. He simply waits and watches for Eustace's response, a mild pout on his face.]

Edited (meh didn't like that) 2022-06-03 03:38 (UTC)

[He's about to tell her that she couldn't have done anything and continue to explain about the urgency of the matter, but his firm resolve does falter a little not from her yelling but from the tells in her eyes. He takes a step to reach out to her, but then remembers Ferran is there and clicks his tongue, the hand that had started to rise moving to the back of his neck and run through his hair in aggravation instead.]

Ferran, go take that nap. I'm taking her home.

[Nap? She almost blurts it out loud, because what the boy needs isn't a nap but for someone to look him over and make sure he hasn't suffered any worse injuries from his exertions.

She would simply cast a cure on them herself if she thought to wear her gloves, but no one told her she would be needing them today...!

How many times is this now that she's felt this helpless?

Tifa's eyes are trained on Eustace for a moment longer before she turns them back to Ferran.]

No, you should go see someone. Make sure you're okay.

[She is leaving very little room for negotiation here.]

[Ferran's brow furrows, and he brings up a finger to gesture at the both of them.]

No, no, hold on. I already said I'm not leaving until I see you [points at Eustace!] attended to, and you [Tifa.] can come and make sure he doesn't leave before that.

[Even exhausted and in the middle of a lover's spat, Ferran is still stubborn as hell. He would offer to pick up Tifa's bags, but... well, that might send him toppling over, too.]

This is ridiculous—

[His patience is wearing severely thin right now.]

We'll all go to the clinic.

[Because 1) he also wants to see Ferran healed; 2) Tifa and Ferran are going to throw fits until he's healed; 3) he's tired of all the arguments so snap decision is a go; 4) the clinic is like literally a block over.

And he'll be picking up the fallen bags, only wincing a little when he over stretches the injured arm to pick up whatever fallen fruits or vegetables that could be salvageable, before walking to the clinic. NO ARGUMENTS THEY'RE ALL GOING.]

Edited 2022-06-03 05:13 (UTC)

I have—

[It's as much as she manages before Eustace interrupts and starts picking up whatever he can of the fallen foods on the ground, and he renders her silent while she watches in astonishment at his stubborness.

She could have easily made that wound go away with a Cure spell or two... All she needed was her materia, but if he'd rather go to the clinic... she supposes that's for the best, right...? Plus, she would feel better knowing Ferran got the help he needed, too.

She would fight more if it weren't for his clear pain or Ferran being here to see it all, but she follows along behind him silently, leaving a trail of hot embers burning in her wake, but she does pause to offer a shoulder to support Ferran on the way.]

Edited 2022-06-03 05:27 (UTC)

[He lets out another sigh, absolutely ready to continue along with the initial plan. Still, Eustace could definitely be handling his girlfriend's feelings a little more sensitively? Hm.]

... Good.

[Sorry, Tifa, those frustrated embers are way too close for pyrophobic Ferran to not get jumpy, and he scoots away as soon as she touches his shoulder and he glances back to see them.

He's got so many issues, I'm sorry. To avoid talking about that, too, he offers:]

Sh-shouldn't take long.

[He would be more than happy to resolve the current issues with ~~his wife~~ Tifa, which is why he wanted to take her home. But nooo everyone just had to be so damn stubborn (himself included). And where Tifa leaves ice, there are occasional crackles of electricity and patches of frost in his wake as he continues to leave the way in cold silence.

Yes, he feels bad for making Tifa upset. And he doesn't blame her for being worried about it. But even after he tried to tell her the facts she seemed to refuse to listen and somehow he started to getting irked. Why exactly he hasn't quite pinpointed yet, and one of the major reasons he just wanted to take her away so they can talk in a more controlled environment and without unwanted third parties. But this is the hand he's been dealt so he threw the stack.

At least by the time they reach the clinic his own temper will have cooled a bit so he can be treated.

Don't think you're escaping treatment Ferran. Those doctors are definitely eying him.]

[She sees that flinching away, and she knows that it shouldn't, but it only makes her feel worse. So, she balls her offered hand into a fist and nods and walks several paces behind the two of them, all the while her eyes boring a hole into the back of Eustace's head so hard that he'll likely be able to feel it.

When Tifa spots one of the doctors eyeing him, she urges Ferran to go speak to them, and even waves one of them over to come and fetch him, and so they do whether he protests or not. You have made this bed, Ferran, and now you must lie in it. Meanwhile, she's straining her ears to try and see if she can listen to what the doctors are saying to Eustace in one of the rooms.

The wait for him feels almost too unbearably long. While she can still feel the anger simmering, she's more worried now. Her mind races with a thousand different thoughts—how he got shot, what was he doing near that reactor in the first place, why did it all happen so fast that he didn't even get the chance to tell her, what was Ferran doing there and why did he get hurt too? Why does he always feel like he needs to put himself at risk? All questions she intends to ask when they get home because she knows, after seeing that frustration to match her own, this is something they need to do in private.

So, as soon as one of them comes out, she'll leap up from her seat, her anxiety written clearly across her face and those embers have burned holes into the leather parts of the chair.]

Everything okay?

🐶 eustace

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