closed ⚡🌠 you make my heart feel like it's summer

[starshower]

Who: Eustace & Tifa Lockhart.
Which: Closed log.
Where: Somewhere in the Wildlands.
What: Eustace and Tifa take some much-needed time away.
Warnings: The usual EusTifa warnings. They're gross. :)


[Hardly a week has gone by since their last stint in a dreamscape before they are finally seeing their plans to fruition. They'd briefly talked about it in the room the wolves had provided for them, and then again when they woke up from their dreams, and Tifa wasted no time in preparing for the few days that they promised to spend away from town. After everything that they had seen and been through—not just on the moon but everything that came before—they agreed that time for themselves would be good for both of them. Time away from the noise and chaos of the town, from the dogs, from responsibilities, from potential threats... Time to just exist together, to be, and breathe for a little while.

She spent the days leading up to their trip shopping and packing and making sure that she's found friends who could check in on both the corgis and flower dogs in their absence. It would only be two nights out in the Wildlands, but she wanted to be certain that they have everything they would need and covered all their bases for those few days. She's packed an assortment of meats, frozen for the trip, containers of fruits and vegetables, water, and some alcohol for the evenings—wine and a fine whiskey, perhaps a few others—anything that she thinks they might enjoy over a campfire. Of course, she can't forget the campfire snacks, either. She's never been out camping properly before, but she knows those are a must.

Meanwhile, Tifa left Eustace to worry about their gear. A tent most of all, but anything that they might equip it with as well. Blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, the works. Anything to make a fire that he thinks they'll need, tarps in the event that there's rain. She never quite knows what is and isn't necessary for a camping trip, especially in these parts, but it's best to be ready for any kind of weather with how finicky it can be sometimes, and she trusts that he'll know exactly what they'll need.

Thankfully, they've packed light and in such a way that it wouldn't be difficult to carry between the two of them, but of course, Eustace never goes unprepared, and when he goes all in on something, he tends to go above and beyond Tifa's expectations. When she wandered out of the house, she was surprised to find two horses waiting for them—one she recognized as the white mare from the night they rode to the flowery fields outside of Reverein, the blue flowers that were once smaller now grown and blooming large as they thread into her mane. The other, a large, magnificent black stallion with interesting markings over his body that she feels is almost too perfectly suited for Eustace. They beat their hooves gently on the ground in greeting, and Tifa reacquaints herself with the mare before they finally ride off on their backs towards the Wildlands.

They don't go far, sticking mostly to the northern forests closer to town, but it's far enough that they can no longer hear or even see Reverein through the thickness of the trees, and with the horses, the trek itself isn't very long. The lake isn't far either from where Eustace ends up leading her to, and she can hear the sound of water nearby—perhaps the river coming from the city? Although Eustace did mention knowing of some waterfalls, and the thought sends a warm thrill through her...

It's when they reach a light clearing surrounded by trees that she allows herself to stop, tugging on the mare's reins with a gasp so that she might take in the full sight of it. There are flowers everywhere, and the afternoon sun peers through the canopies of trees overhead to bask it in an almost magical glow. Through the bushes, there's a winding path that, judging from the trickling sounds, leads down a small hill to some manner of body of water.

It like it's straight out of a fairy tale picture book.]

... Is this it?

[It must be... It's the most stunning place she's ever seen, and she's a touch overwhelmed to come up with much more than that.]

It's beautiful.

[How did he even find this place? ... She's been asking that a lot with him, hasn't she? The field of flowers, the barn, and now this. He never ceases to surprise and amaze her and this time is no exception.

Consider Tifa completely blown away once again.]

Comments

[flamekthunder]

Can't it wait?

[Just a low growl as lunges forward again, mouth taking her lips as that roaming hand of his sneaks behind her back to start undoing the clasp of her bra. Which by now he can do fairly easily so she'll have to try harder to make him stop.]

[starshower]

[She will indeed have to work for it, but when she feels his fingers so skillfully unhook her bra, and when he ravages her lips again with his, it becomes increasingly difficult to fight back when she knows where this is heading.

Which is why she hooks her legs around his and flips him over in a single swift motion so that he's on his back beneath her now, and before he can say or do anything further, she presses a finger to his lips.]

No. So wait here.

[Tifa scurries to her feet then, but she does slip her bra out from under her shirt so that she can give it a lazy toss over him, and it lands right on his face before she struts away, her hips wagging playfully with the hope that he's watching her until she disappears into their tent.

He'll hear her rummaging around for only a few moments before she comes back out, the chain and dog tag clutched in one hand, and a small velvet satchel in the other, but she doesn't walk back to him, and instead waits for him to come to her.]

[flamekthunder]

[—All right, he did not see that coming so he's a little stunned and unable to move at first, completely captured by seeing her above him. And then she has be a cheeky little rabbit by throwing her bra in his face—wow. He only wryly pulls it away as he sits up, watching her retreat to the tent as he "lets" her escape. Whatever it is she wants to give him, it must be really important to break them up from that.

When she finally reappears, he looks at the items in her hands curiously...and when he realizes she's waiting for him—]

I can move now?

[A wry voice as he stands and saunters over, tossing her bra inside the town once he's near. However, as tempted as he is to push her back in, he is curious about all this so—]

So what is it?

[starshower]

[She never once takes her eyes off him as he crosses over to her, a grin still pulling at the corners of her lips. Her hands are working to wrap the chain around her wrist for safekeeping for now, and she'll wait for him to stop in front of her before she pulls open the pouch.]

It worked out perfectly...

[The necklaces, she means, as there's a telling metal clink at her wrist as she shakes out what's inside. Into her palm fall two empty glass-like charms—a moon and a matching star—as well as a matching set of chains to string them on. Too perfectly, she reminds herself, smiling down at them before she moves her eyes to meet his, reading his expression for a reaction.]

They aren't much, but...

[Tifa's blushing again, shoulders squaring near her ears, as she explains.]

The man who made these said that if we fill them with dreamotion energy... our dreamotion energy, they'll protect us.

[She isn't sure how much of the story she actually believes, but she'd like to think there is some truth to it. Somehow.]

[flamekthunder]

[He watches her a little confused before his eyes widen—for more than one reason. The charms themselves already causes a small flutter in his chest. Even though he's not really one for accessories or jewelry, it doesn't change the fact that she had picked something for the both of them. But it's what she says after, how they have a protective charm, that also makes him stare at her a little mystified.]

...It's the same.

[His eyes flick towards the dog tag in her hands.]

It might be a different kind, but...I had a protection spell enchanted on the tag.

[starshower]

Huh?

[Her gaze flits to the dog tag wrapped around her wrist, then back up at him, and it's then that Tifa breaks out into another brief fit of giggles.

They really did have the same idea, without even knowing it. She had just been out browsing after work the other day looking for something she could give him, and she does know that he isn't much of a jewelry person, but when the man had explained what they were, what they could do...

She remembered what she witnessed him go through in the moonscape, and before that, when he had been shot...]

Sounds like we'll be extra protected, then.

[An odd sense of relief washes over her at that, and she can't help the faint sigh that she looses when she takes him by the hand and opens his palm so that she can set the little glass star in its center.]

This one's yours.

[flamekthunder]

[A light smile forms at her laughter, the sound always so clear and infectious.]

Just like the clovers.

[How they both got four leaf clovers for each other, both wanting to have that precious first date not be marred by the terrible luck they had been having until then.

He then looks curiously at the star charm.]

Why the star?

[Not that he's complaining, he just would have expected receiving the moon.]

[starshower]

[When he brings up the clovers, her eyes widen a touch before her whole expression softens as she gives him a short nod. Just like the clovers... That had been a funny coincidence too. Or perhaps not that, but rather, the two of them being so in sync that things tend to just work out that way.

It's his question that gives Tifa pause, however, and she immediately feels her face heating up again. How many times is this going to happen over the next two nights? She dips her chin, and words suddenly don't come quite so easy to her.

Why the star?

She had thought about it long and hard on her walk home from the marketplace that day, and then well into the night. It should have been obvious to her from the start which would be more fitting, but she wanted to be sure. This was, after all, her own little trinket to prove her devotion to him and she needed it to fit to them perfectly.

Tucking a hair behind her ear and shaking her head, she huffs out a shy laugh.]

It's silly...

[But when she lets her eyes move up to his, she's reminded that no, it's not so silly. It makes perfect sense. This... all of this... it all makes so much sense to her, and she finds herself biting down on her lip with a smile again.]

Back in Nibelheim, I'd sit at my window all the time and watch the stars. They were... always so pretty. Special. When I moved to Midgar... well, can't see them from the ground floor, what with the plate and all, but I imagine they were just as pretty there too for the people who could.

[Gods, she feels so silly saying all of this, and there's no doubt that he'll be able to see the colour in her cheeks by now.]

Then, when I went to Camelot, I could see them again. Here, too. And... in both those places, I met you.

[Her fingers curl over his hand, her thumb stroking shy lines across him palm near the little crystal moon.]

The stars have always reminded me of home... but now... I have a new one. Here... With you.

[Tifa lets her gaze meet his now.]

That's why I wanted you to have the star. So that maybe it could remind you, too...

[flamekthunder]

[At first he listened in half wonderment, but then his eyes widen slightly.

The stars have always reminded me of home... but now... I have a new one. Here... With you.

Home.

It's something he had thought of about her before, and for a person like him, that's huge. As people get older, what they considered "home" changes as their lives change and they move, both physically and emotionally. Eustace lost his childhood home long ago, and there's been no reason for him to return with it completely gone. For most of his life he had called the Society organization "home," but only as a place of residence. It was through Gran and the others that he was able to call the Grandcypher his real home, a place where he really felt he belonged and knew he could always return to after all those years of drifting alone. It's good, but...]

...It's the same for me.

[His hand covers hers over the charms, stepping in a little closer to her.]

You...are my home now. The only person I want to return to...no matter where you are.

[His grip tightens a fraction, his words layered with many different meanings. Here, Camelot, some other world they might get tossed into, some other lifetime. There will be inevitably places where their fates won't intersect, their own worlds being prime examples, but where they do? He's certain, if given a chance, they would build it all over again.

Eustace leans down and lightly brushes his lips against the top of her head.]

The stars won't just remind me...they'll also guide me to you.

[starshower]

[Her eyes slowly shut, and a breath flutters free from her when she feels the warmth of his kiss on her forehead. Her chest swells with love, her heart feeling like it's soaring and her body like it's melting, and Tifa wants nothing more than to lean up and steal his lips with hers. To wrap herself up in him and never leave, but she knows the moment that she does, she'll be done for.

So, she can only gaze up at him for now with a little nod.]

That's why it's yours. So that no matter where you are, you'll always find your way back.

[Back home. To her. And maybe, just maybe, it'll guide him back to her across the universe, too.

Her hand slips out from beneath his just far enough to reveal the star as it begins to shimmer with a dim blue light at its center. It's small, barely noticeable with the fire roaring higher, but it's there.]

And mine is the moon... [Tifa drops her gaze down to where their hands are still threaded together.] My guiding light...

[flamekthunder]

[There's a soft smile as he follows her gaze.]

Always watching over you.

[It really is fitting, and knowing she put so much thought into these really warms his heart. She thinks he gives her so much, but he feels the same—that she's always giving him so much that he can only do whatever he can to match it.

But he does notice how the charm shimmered just now, and he remember what else she said about these charms.]

You mentioned these use dreamotion?

[starshower]

[There are other words resting on the tip of her tongue, caught behind the coy smile that she offers him before he's steering the subject. Her lips part to make a playful quip about how he is her Wolfman, and wolves and the moon, but his question has her focus shifting.]

Yeah. They do. Or so he said.

[Clearly, it does something if it's blinking like this. Does that mean it's picking up on the feelings that are lingering between them right now?

The corners of her lips pull higher.]

He said... we need to channel our dreamotion into them for them to work.

[flamekthunder]

Did he say how much? Or what kind?

[...Really, he can take a guess, but she knows him and wanting to know specifics. Still, he'll do a little test of his own, pouring out some of his love for her towards the little charms.]

[starshower]

[She does know, but Tifa doesn't say anything, only giving him a little hum at first.]

He did.

[That's the only answer he'll get, and she knows that it isn't much, but she's sure that he can guess what it is already, before she's slipping the shimmering star onto one of the chains from the pouch, and she lifts it to dangle between them for him to take.]

He said it's going to need a lot.

[If her face has ever stopped being so red, then it's already flushed again. The maker had explained that an intense lover's connection would be needed to imbue the proper magic, and it would need a lot of it to manifest, and Tifa knew what that meant—or at least, what that means for them. They always have so, so much to give... too much sometimes, but the way her eyes seem to gleam with that suggestion should be telling enough as she waits for him to accept the chain, never quite meeting his eyes fully.]

... I can show you, if you'd like.

[flamekthunder]

[Eustace really thought it would be something more directly channeled, like holding the charms in their hands and focusing their dreamotion into it. So at first he just stares at her confused as he slowly reaches out to take the chain. But then he takes full note of her countenance: how she doesn't meet his eyes, her flushed cheeks, the vagueness.

Show...

He then catches that gleam and it's then that the light bulb goes off. There's a small quirk of his lips as he looks at the charm in his hand before he reaches into his pocket to pull out the second dog tag he kept for himself.]

Show, huh...

[As he slowly threads the chain through it, there's a satisfying clink when his tag meets the star charm, and briefly his gaze softens seeing them together. A part of him and a part of her, both symbolizing their love for one another and desire to protect each other. As if reacting to his thoughts, the star shimmers again.

As he puts it around his neck, he looks at her now, that bit of heat now returning to his eyes.]

And how would you like to do that?

[starshower]

[Seeing the tag and the charm together around his neck makes her heart flutter. It's one thing having them in the palm of her hand, but another to see him wear that symbol of her love for him. It suits him, she thinks. They're simple charms, small in comparison to the dog tag, but they didn't need to be big and extravagant. As long as the two of them knew what they meant—what the little light that beats at their center means, then that's all that matters.

But how, indeed...

She doesn't miss that surge of fire in his eyes, and she knows that he knows exactly what she's thinking, but where would be the fun in simply giving him the answer?

So, Tifa takes her sweet time in unraveling her own chain from her wrist, the sound of the metal tag like music to her ears when she slips the moon on beside it. Her eyes will flick to his through her lashes, and there's a decorous, playful gleam in them. She even pauses, drawing out the moment as long as possible, to reach across him, her body pressing deliberately to his as she takes her glass of wine for a sip before she sets it down elsewhere and turns her back to him.

Silently, her hand combs her hair forward, draping the long black locks over her shoulder to expose the back of her neck, and with a trembling breath, she peers at him expectantly, her hand stretching back to offer him her chain.]

[flamekthunder]

[He watches with some curiosity before a light smirk forms. So that's how she wants to play it, hm?

With the invitation clear, he slowly moves to be behind her, fingers lightly taking the chain from her grasp. At first he does little more than clasping it together, but as he gently lets the chain fall over her neck and shoulders, his lips follow to brush and kiss against her soft skin, his arm slipping around her waist. The weight of both the tag and charm pull the long chain down to the center of her chest, and as he glances over her shoulder a softer look appears, happy to see her wearing something used to be his. It's a strange thing, maybe even silly, especially since he never really had any sentimental feelings towards his tags before. But now they do. Now they have an actual meaning to his "identity."

Although the sight stokes those heated embers, he's going to play nice and let Tifa continue to lead.]

And now?

[starshower]

[Oh. He's behaving, is he? Even after she dips her head to grant him access to the skin on the back of her neck, and even after his breaths raise goosebumps all over her? She was prepared to have to shrug him off and slip away, to continue their little game of cat and house—or in their case, wolf and rabbit again, but she's both surprised and, admittedly, a mite disappointed when his lips leave her.

There's a pause, as if everything around her slows down, when she lifts her hand to touch where the charm and the tag rest on her chest. Her fingers graze over the metal engravings on the tag where she knows every single piece of Eustace—his identity—is carefully inscribed there. This new weight around her neck is so new but knowing what it is and what it symbolizes... it's exhilarating, and he'll feel her tremble against his body when a satisfied tingle pierces all the way through her.

Their devotion to one another, their love, and the promises they've made... their vows all wrapped into two little trinkets...]

Now...

[The word is a ghost of a whisper, almost nothing at all as she finds his hand around her waist and gently removes it. She chances a knowing glance over her shoulder at him when she bends forward to gather her glass of wine and the bottle beside it, and she can feel her heart leap in her chest before she leads him silently to the winding downward path that leads to the little cove, the sound of the trickling waterfall growing near.

And the sight they arrive to leaves Tifa nearly breathless.

With the dual moons now shining brilliantly in the sky, their bright light filters through the canopies and they hit the water in such a way that it makes it shimmer as the ripples spread outward. Small fireflies flit about, their lights reflecting off the water. Already, star flowers have begun to bloom at her feet, their blue glow helping to light them up. All of it together presents the cove with an enchanting, sensual radiance...

Rather than pause to admire it, she turns to face Eustace with that playful gleam of mischief in her eyes blazing brighter.]

How about a dip?

[flamekthunder]

[He can tell she's disappointed, but it's probably for the best—had he done more she might not have been able to push him off to go to her intended location, which, as he suspected, was the pool. So he just lets her lead him over, and there's a light smirk at her proposal.]

Had a feeling that's what you wanted.

[He steps up to her, his hands slipping beneath her shirt as he lowers his face to press a light kiss on her lips before it deepens. Slowly one hand moves down to curve behind her... And then there's a flash in his eyes, a smirk against her lips before he pulls back and suddenly lifts her up into his arms.]

[starshower]

[She melts under his lips, her body arching to his to seek his warmth, and she loses her grip on the wine and glass as her arms fall loosely to her sides, her entire being yielding to him. The bottle falls with a thud to the ground, the glass with a little clink as it lands on her foot, but she doesn't seem to notice or care. They can come back to it later.

Because she's about to help him with his shirt, her fingers already working to unbutton its front when she suddenly feels her feet leaving the ground.]

What--!?

[She breaks the kiss with a small, surprised yelp, and her arms snap around his neck to support herself as she looks at him through wide eyes and a gaze so thick with emotion that she looks as if she can hardly process what's happening.]

Eustace! [But in spite of her surprise, she's blushing and biting on her lip to stifle another giggle.] What are you doing?

[flamekthunder]

Helping us in?

[Just a mischievous grin and a light chuckle as he turns them towards the water. She has three guesses as to what he's about to do next.]

[starshower]

[Here she was, trying to be the playful one. To keep him wrapped around her finger until the very last second when she could unravel them both, but he has her in a firm hold and she doesn't bother to fight him.

Instead, she looks to the water, then back at him. And then once more for good measure and dramatic effect.]

Don't you dare...

[But that can hardly be passed off as a protest...

In fact, her lips turn ever so slightly with a stifled grin. Is she calling his bluff?]

[flamekthunder]

[There are so many ways this could go as he starts slowly walking towards the edge of the pool. He could fake her out and not do anything. He could throw her unceremoniously into the water. Or...

SPLASH!

He could tighten his grip on her and jump in with her together. The water is not too deep so his feet reach the bottom, but they will be mostly submerged upon initial entry before he brings them back up.]

Ha, shit it's cold!

[And it really is—although not freezing, the water is a very brisk cold that cuts straight to the bone. But Eustace just laughs despite it.

[starshower]

[She's holding onto him, prepared for him to toss her in first but instead, she feels his fingers dig into her muscles, his arms loop tighter around her, and then it's followed by an abrupt SPLASH! and a yelp from Tifa before she's completely submerged in the pool from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. That only lasts a second because she lifts her head from where she'd tucked it against his chest to suck in the air that had left her lungs when they made their impact.]

Oh my god—!

[It really is cold, and as she blinks the water out of her eyes, she has no choice but to pull herself closer to him... and bump a fist against his chest in playful protest.]

We could've just walked in, you know!

[But in spite of the sudden briskness that envelops her, she is trying her best to stifle the laugh she feels bubbling up in her chest.]

[flamekthunder]

Better to just get it over with at once.

[Said between trembling laughs as he slowly wades through the water to help stir up circulation.]

We'll warm up soon enough.