songerein | fifteenth shot ⊗ closed log

[His eyes widen in surprise when she pulls him in for the kiss, and for once he doesn't immediately reciprocate, too stunned by the suddenness of it all. And honestly, he would have been thrilled by it—and he still is a bit—but.

...Something is wrong. He can't bring himself to fully give into it even as he feels himself being pulled in, eyes closing slightly as he gives her access to what she needs, his hands finding their way to her waist. Yet when she finally pulls away and explains...

He can't help but frown a little.]

...You were jealous?

[Jealous...over those things? He starts to say there was nothing to it, but then stops himself when he realizes it would only just make him sound dismissive. This is clearly bothering her. But really, what can he say?]

...Do you want me to get rid of them?

[...Is he being serious or testing to see what she'll say?]

Edited 2023-03-01 06:01 (UTC)

[She isn't sure that jealous is the way to put it. It's such an ugly word, an ugly emotion, and she hates it... Hates that she even feels the slightest bit that way over a pair of fairies. It's silly, she knows, but Tifa prefers protective and sure, maybe she can be a touch possessive about him, but that's just how they both are, isn't it? They have every right to be, don't they? She is his wife, and he is her husband, and they tease one another about it all the time. The marks on her neck that he left behind last night are proof of that, and her fingers idly graze over one...]

No.

[Is that an answer to his first or second question? Or both...?

Tifa doesn't even notice how odd it is that the suggestion of it has her heart soaring at the thought that he would do something like that for her... to get rid of something so pesky that could make her feel even the slightest bit upset or angry.

She really does have the greatest man in this and any world, doesn't she?

Of course, she would never ask him to go that far. Not even for her, but the thought is..... nice...

Pressing another, gentler kiss to the corner of his lips, Tifa smiles.]

It's fine. Just as long as you remember who the real boss is...

[Lowering herself down from her tiptoes, she lets go of him so that she can loop her arm around his as if none of this has even happened.]

So, Dreambucks, yeah?

[He somehow feels a little relieved that she answered in the negative, even if it is a little ambiguous as to what. Really he wouldn't have thought too much of her being a little jealous or possessive over him. He'd find it cute, and besides he does it all the time, he has zero room to talk or protest.

However, what makes it odd is how she seems more upset and angry than just a little pouty or more coy about it. It feels... Different from the other few times he's seen her behave more clingy towards him. And if she had told him to remove the fairies, he would been even more concerned, alarmed even.

But since she seems to be more herself, he can only conclude that she is just a little more sensitive today due from last night. And not from their late night activities... But because of the arrival and Cloud and Zack and everything involving them. Honestly if he had that mess hanging over him he also would be testier.

Settling on that, he just pulls Tifa a little closer to him, hugging her arm close to his side.]

Mm. You can order whatever you want.

[She takes him up on that offer when they get there, though she settles for the simpler things on the menu—a peppermint tea and a scone to go with it. They find a table in the back corner next to a window, and as they sit, she's noticeably more relaxed than she had been all morning. It could be thanks to the soothing tea or the perfect crumble to the scone, or just Eustace's calm presence in general. Being away from the café and, namely, the fairies seem to have also done wonders in uplifting her mood.

And while she is more relaxed, she is also distinctly clingier, too. When she would typically go save them a table while he orders, she refuses, holding onto his arm tighter as they stood in line, and even seeking out kisses and subtle touches whenever she could. Even when they're seated across from each other, even as they try to talk about the café's menu and table setup, her hands reach out to touch him at every opportunity that she can find as her stare remains adoring while she listens to him, and they linger on his lips more often than not...

The break is very much a needed one, however, and when they return to the café to find it empty besides Sprinkles asleep near the window in the sun, they are able to get some real work done. Tables are slid into place and rearranged until they've found something that they are happy with, and all of it leaving enough space for cat trees and playpens and toy baskets for the animals when they have them.

Does he see now how much progress they've made without the fairies pestering them? Maybe they should have gotten rid of them sooner...

But even as they spend the better part of their afternoon alone, Tifa only feels that want to be near him grow until it's almost overbearing, and until she can't focus on anything else. It's as if the masquerade had cast a shadow over her. Seeing him dancing with others, having him support her so sweetly after she had to deal with Cloud being here, and then the night they spent together afterwards... it emboldened her, but new feelings had grabbed hold of her, too. Newer, darker, more wicked feelings that she couldn't get out of her head as she watched him move around. Watched his muscles as he lifted the tables and chairs, watched the concentration on his face as he sketched the different layouts into her journal... As the sweat began to accumulate along his brow...

How his wedding ring shimmered whenever it caught the light.

Mirabelle does return alone in the later hours of the afternoon, going back to her usual doting on Eustace, daring to touch his hair and trying to hitch rides on his shoulder while Tifa watches on, scrubbing the counter so hard that she may just clean a hole right into the wood. And that's when she takes him by the hand and leads him home...

It's there that she locks the door behind them, shutting it in Eria's face as she fixes the two of them with the same. Had she even noticed the wolf there? It's unlikely, with all her attention fixed on Eustace. She wants him, and she wants him to know that she does, and she doesn't even wait until they are in their rooms to wrap her fingers around his belt and pull him to her to kiss him...

The remainder of the afternoon—and well into the evening—is spent much like it had been the night before. Where the vines had receded, they spread once more, thicker and wider this time. The starflowers that had been blue begin to turn a deep red at their tips, as if trying to match the others that speckle the room. The scent of flowers and sweat grows thick as the steam begins to rise once more, so thick that water begins to trickle down the walls, clinging to the glowing petals and leaves that crawl over them.

It's then that she whispers to him her appreciation for him. Her thanks for being there for her, for catching her when she had fallen. Then that she reminds him of how badly she needed this—to be able to reaffirm her feelings to him after everything that had happened. She's been in turmoil since the night before, and the only time she's ever felt a moment of clarity is when she ascends to a higher plane to touch the stars with him.

She reminds him of how much she needs him...

It's late by the time they all have dinner together, and all feels normal then. Tifa is in a pleasant mood, laughing along with Lyria as she tells them all about their day.

But it's there... in the back of her mind still. It never left, even as she and Eustace reached new heights of bliss again only hours before that. A whispering voice in her head that echoes whenever she looks over at her husband and her love for him fills her heart...

And as the night goes on, as she lays in bed in his arms and seeks out kisses, it becomes louder and louder...

Mine...]

[The day after begins the same way yesterday did. Back to the café, although earlier, for another delivery. Today, it was going to be cutlery and plates so that they would be ready for their grand opening. It wasn't much, but it would be a heavy load, so they would need all of their energy for the day. And it's why Tifa lets Eustace handle greeting the delivery and bringing it in while Tifa cleans out the cupboards and cabinets to prepare for them.

But he seems to be taking a long time at the doors...

Tifa goes out to check on him once, and he's still talking to the delivery girl.

... A girl?

She gives her head a firm shake and disappears into the back again to finish...

...

But when he takes a little longer, Tifa wanders back out again, this time with a cloth in hand to begin wiping down the glasses that she had just polished the day before, except it isn't to clean them. Her eyes remain glued to the door, her hearing sharpened as much as she can manage while she listens to their conversation. She can barely hear what they're talking about, but she doesn't miss the way the girl looks at him, or how she giggles at just about everything Eustace says, or when she reaches out to touch his arm several times.

Does she not see the wedding ring on his finger? Does she not see that he's already claimed?

Irrational thoughts fire up in her head, suddenly raging like a wildfire when she sees the flush in the girl's cheeks, and the way she shyly tucks a hair behind her ear. And then she reaches up like she's about to touch Eustace's ears...

That heaviness that had crept into her heart snaps, like a dam under far too much pressure. It clouds her judgement and reason, and in her head, she replays the night of the masquerade over. How he had swept other people across the dance floor. How he had smiled for others, so warm and so sweet... when that smile... It was supposed to be for her...

How the fairies had shamelessly tried to be near him, how they would comment on things that only she could and should...

That want for him mounts, but something else for him does, too. Something that makes that voice louder until it's almost deafening. Something that makes her heart swell and stop all at the same time—

The sound of a glass shattering breaks the tense silence that had been ringing in her ears since she'd come out here, and she looks down to find a broken glass scattered around her feet...]

[Seeing her relax at the café helps ease some of his earlier concerns... But he does notice how she keeps clinging to him, looking at him, stealing those glances. It's hard not to notice the heat hidden beneath her gaze, and he does wonder a little, but he can't really say he dislikes it. So although he briefly wonders if he should check on her again, he ends up letting her be, even playing into a little as he reciprocates or teases her back.

But then at the café, he once again notices her behavior. He doesn't at first, too focused on the work at hand, but at some point he catches her eying him. Of course he doesn't think much, but then when he's moving around, or when he again happens to look up... Really he doesn't mind her staring—it's not the first time and he likes to tease her about it sometimes. But again it just feels...odd. Something he can't quite place. Still, he lets it be—until Mirabelle appears. Just like always he just mentally sighs and puts up with her antics, brushing her off when he can but otherwise just ignoring it as he doesn't want to waste time dealing with the fairy. At this point he's used to it and thinks it nothing more than the fairy just using him and bothering him.

However, a few alarms are raised when Tifa suddenly grabs him and drags him home. He's so stunned and bewildered that he can only follow before he tries to ask what's going on, but she only dismisses it, wanting to go home. And that alarm rings again when she locks them in their room and she takes the initiative. Again, normally he wouldn't mind this and willingly reciprocate. But for the first time, he frowns and grabs her shoulders to stop and gently push her away.

Really, what is going on? Was she still bothered by earlier? Yet any attempts to question are once again stopped, Tifa refusing to say more and even pushing forward after expressing as much. She didn't want to talk about it anymore, didn't want to think about it. Not right now. What she wanted was him.

It all reminds him of their conversation they once had about how they tended to use each other's company for comfort. How he had questioned whether it was healthy or not and ultimately decided that technically yes, but for them it worked. It allowed them to release those pent up frustrations and emotions, find that needed comfort and become more stable, allowing them to deal with problem and talk it out with better minds. Thus, while something in the back of his mind warns him he shouldn't be enabling this...he does, anyway. He can only think that she needed him right now for that comfort, the turmoil and conflict brought on from the night before still troubling her.

He had promised her he would give her whatever she needed—and although hesitant at first, he quickly gave in and so willingly gave. Let her take whatever she needed.

And, truthfully, it was difficult for him not to fall into her seduction, not with him also still affected by the full moon and quick to also want his beloved, his mate. Even if he had good rational sense, it all just fell by the wayside once they got started.

However, that night after she fell asleep after once more clinging to him and giving her affections, he couldn't help but stare with some concern...wondering if he was really doing the right thing. Before sleeping, he made a resolve to try and talk with her again. Maybe not tomorrow, but the day after.

Once they were back at the café and seeing at her work, some of his concerns fade. Perhaps she had gotten some of it out of her system, and he, too, focused on the work. And it was all fine until the delivery came in. He had volunteered to handle it, expecting there to be heavy boxes that he would better able to deal with. What he didn't expect, however, was for the delivery girl to try and start a conversation as they work to unload the crates.

At first, he just gave his typical answers—short, curt, sometimes just silence. He just wants to bring the crates in, and he can feel how she stares at his ears. Immediately he dismisses her as one of those people who can't help but gawk at someone different looking, the idea of anything more not even a blip on his radar. In fact, he's about to ask her to just be quiet so he can work in peace when she suddenly brings up dogs.

Specifically, some strays she had seen around their shop. Immediately any hostility Eustace had is erased as he questions further, stopping only to conjure his journal to take notes. It's during this time that the girl takes the opportunity. She was already leaning in to help point out and draw the map for him, and when he's distracted that's when her hand raises...

SMASH!

Immediately Eustace's head snaps up and he turns to stare wide-eyed at Tifa, who is now standing at the door way, the glass shattered at her feet. Without even sparing a glance at the also stunned girl, the journal and quill disappears as he rushes over to her.]

Are you all right? What happened?

[He grabs her hands, fearing she might have gotten cut.]

[A brand new glass, a specially made one scattered around her feet, and as Tifa stares down at the broken pieces, her frustration bubbles beneath the surface, and even when Eustace rushes across the bar to her, it barely fades. She hears a snicker coming from the door, but when she looks up at the girl, she sees that it's not with amusement that she's staring at Tifa, but with some concern.

Did she imagine it...?

She tries to steer her attention to Eustace when he takes her hands, and while her palms and fingers are red, there's no sign of injury, and she very gently tries to pull away from him.]

Yeah. I'm fine. Think I was just holding it too tight is all.

[The glass clinks gently as she shifts her weight onto her back foot and takes half a step away, closer towards the back of the bar, and her gaze moves past Eustace and to the girl at the door.]

Who's she?

[She remembers it being a man last time they had deliveries come in from the same people. He was friendly enough, tried to flirt with Tifa a little before she politely turned him down, but the girl is new... and she's never seen her before...

And she doesn't bother to hide the anger in her eyes—or maybe she doesn't even notice the way she's staring at her—when the girl waggles her fingers in a wave at Tifa.]

[Eustace looks at her strangely for a moment before he glances behind him.]

Her? Sister of the guy who came to deliver last week.

[The guy who dared to flirt with his wife—he never said anything, but he definitely stared heavily at him and otherwise let him be.........

.........

Don't tell him—is Tifa feeling similarly???]

Hm.

[Just a quiet, curt noise of affirmation as she continues to stare over Eustace's shoulder at her. She's busied herself with the boxes, but she certainly doesn't miss the way that her eyes flick back to Eustace every now and then, and that only makes the frown in her brow deepen.]

She's pretty chummy with you, isn't she?

[As the air in Tifa's immediate area begins to grow hot... as hot as she feels on the inside as that aggravating feeling begins to boil, so much that her cheeks and the tips of her hears have started to turn red in colour as her blood roars through her, like someone's set a fire beneath her.

She doesn't even know why she's getting so upset about it, but it's like this woman has reached in with her hand and squeezed at her heart as she laughs in her face, taunting her about how badly she wants to touch Eustace's ears, or reminding her of how nice his soap smells this morning, or pointing out the cut of his shirt, or about how he had paid more attention to her than he did to Tifa—]

...

[His eyes narrow as he observes the changes around Tifa before he grabs her wrist.]

Come with me.

[And without another word he pulls her away from the bar, towards the kitchens where they can be alone for a moment. Only then does he stop to face her, concern etched over his features.]

Tifa, what is going on? This isn't like you.

[Even as Eustace drags her to the back into the kitchens, Tifa continues to stare her down until she's out of her view. Only then does she look up at him, that same fire burning in her heart now finding its way into her eyes, and it's as if a shadow has lowered over them.

The roar in her ears quiets, however, and Tifa runs a hand over her temple.]

What do you mean?

[For someone who feels like she's about to light this whole kitchen ablaze, her voice is unnaturally soft when she speaks to him, and although that shadow remains in her now brown eyes, they're wide, doting as she meets his gaze, but only briefly before they fall away again with a sigh.

Tired. She's tired...]

You didn't see it?

The only thing I see is you about to burn this place down.

[It's a dry remark, but that tension is palatable.]

Is this about the girl?

[A small sigh as he runs a hand through his hair, again reminded of his own actions...]

I didn't notice anything, but we can send her away and ask for someone else.

Yes?

[Her answer comes simply, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world because according to her, it is... but she remains and appears calm about it, even if the air around her is buzzing with tension that feels like it's about to snap clean in half, and her voice is quiet, patient.

Though, inside, her heart squeezes tighter in her chest.

The girl certainly looked like she thought he was into it, or into her. Why else would she have reached up to try touching his ears, or laughed at everything he said as if he were telling her the funniest jokes she's ever heard?

With another drawn-out sigh, Tifa steps around him, her feet carrying her faster than the rest of her can react or catch up.]

I can take care of it from here. Do you think you could sweep up the glass?

[Again he frowns annd reaches out to grab her hand, stopping her.]

No. I think it would be better if I took care of things. You're clearly stressed, so after I send her away and clean up, we're going home.

Edited 2023-03-02 20:39 (UTC)

[...

There's a moment where the two of them stare at one another, the silence far too loud for even Tifa's liking, and she almost considers wrenching her hand away from him...

But instead, her fingers relax and coil around his hand, nails scraping gently and lovingly along the edge of his palm.]

Alright. Fine.

[If he wants to take care of it, then who is she to stop him? Why would she stop him? He is her valiant knight, after all... and she appreciates and adores him that much more for it. If he wants to chase away the girl who smiles at him for just a little too long, who keeps touching him and flirting with him, then she will let him.

So that they could be alone again.

Tifa pulls her hand away and moves to grab the broom to begin sweeping up the glass, but before he can get too far, just as he leaves the back kitchen and comes into view of the girl again, she is overcome with a weighty need that has her grabbing him, whirling him around, and pulling him in for a kiss. It isn't the ravenous one that she craves so much, wanting to drag him back and devour him right against the kitchen doorway, but it's soft, gentle, almost too overwhelmingly sweet...

And as their lips meet, the voice in her head and in her heart screams louder and louder...

Mine...

Her eyes flutter open for just a second to glance at the girl... to make sure that she's watching the two of them, before she frees Eustace and immediately goes to sweeping the glass.]

[Depsite her answer, no—because of her answer and behavior, he feels a little more unsettled. Something is... Definitely wrong. He's known and watched her long enough to tell that her behavior is abnormal and that something else is going on. The problem is he has no idea what. His thoughts circle back to the arrival of Cloud and Zack, but is that really it?

With these thoughts he turns away from her, but before he can go too far those same thoughts are broken when he's spun around and Tifa is kissing. Immediately he is reminded of the day before when she suddenly kissed him outside of the cafe. And just like then, he stiffens in stunned surprise, eyes wide and unable to properly react before she's pulling away. Of course, he didn't miss the way she glanced past him, and when he's finally freed he turns his head to also see the girl stunned with a hand over her mouth.

...

Though rather than heartbreak, it seems more like... Amazement? Admiration? He can catch her whispering, "Whoa...intense..." under her breath.

...

In any case, he only manages to glance back at Tifa now sweeping the floor before he just runs a hand over his face and through his hair before he walks over the younger girl. Weary but calm, he asks for her to leave the rest and head back. He plans to later go to the shop to personally speak to the owner to make the personnel change, but he keeps that to himself. For now he just asks her to leave, and after unloading the last crate, he stays around long enough to make sure she heads off before closing and locking the door behind him.

Now... Comes the real "problem.". He walks over to her.]

Tifa.

[Her hearing is sharp, tuned in to what he says to her, though over the sound of her sweeping, she doesn't quite catch all of it. She does hear the girl leave, and there's a slight quirk to her lip as the footsteps disappear and the front door closes, the bell jingling merrily on her way out.

But when Eustace calls out to her, she's just finishing collecting the glass into a pan when she stands upright and turns to face him with a neutral smile.]

Hm? What?

[She cants her head, looking at him as if he's the one who's acting strange. As if everything had been perfectly normal up until now... Because it is. Everything's gone back to the way it should be, right? It's quiet here, there's no one but them. Even Mirabelle has left for the day, not wanting to get in between "whatever is going on between them", or something. Not that there is anything going on.

Tifa just loves her husband. More than anything...

That's all there is to it, and there's nothing strange or wrong with that.

And now they're alone again, thanks to him.

But within, there's that shadow that continues to grow, sharpened claws digging into her heart as if it means to make her bleed out for him. It fogs her mind with a thick, darkened cloud, eclipses all reason until it twists around itself, reminding her that he had done something for her. So that he could be with her... Those emotions, so deep and so pure, quickly begin to distort, turning jealousy into appreciation, and turning appreciation into love, spinning it and tightening it until it becomes a coil of obsession that's already prepared to snap.

Elsewhere, in the corners of the café where the vines of starflowers stretch up from the floor to the ceiling, their petals, already tipped in red, now transform a shade deeper, the scarlet seeping into it as if the flowers are drinking it up until there is no blue left.]

Eustace, are you okay? [He looks mad. Upset. Why does he look like that? She pouts slightly.] Did I do something?

[Perhaps it's all the years from being out in the field, of dealing with primal beasts and honing his senses for any hint of danger, especially with the impediment of his right eye. Perhaps it's how attuned and sensitive he's become towards her. Regardless, the warning bells are once more ringing in his head, and the idea that something is strange or wrong with his beloved tears at him.

Yet this deep, overwhelming concern will also be his downfall as he misses the other signs, his focus turning to the wrong, if justifiable, places.]

You've been...tense these past couple of days. I didn't say anything yesterday, but I think we need to talk about what's been going on.

[A beat.]

About Zack and Cloud.

[Because what else could make her feel as if she needs to overcompensate like this? Make her so clingy, wanting his reassurance... He doesn't mind it, but he can't let it continue like this, either.

And......if it's not about them, then what? What could be making her be like this...?]

[Ah... he's worried about her. Why is he always so sweet and so caring?

The names he drops make her expression immediately shift, the light almost leaving her eyes as she peels her once-affectionate gaze away from him. While it is true that the whole thing did leave her rather tense and incredibly stressed, hearing them right now sends a jolt of impatience through her.

However, if he wants to talk, then she will oblige. Anything for him...

There's a brief pause as she works through the logic of his statement, her brain not quite registering his concern as the legitimate one that it is. She knows what he means, and she knows that their meeting was the cause of the weight she's been carrying around in her shoulders, why she's been so short with everything and everyone since then...

But her shadowed reasoning leaves her with the conclusion that it's also the explanation for everything else, too. All of the other things that may be setting off alarm bells in his head. All of the other things that she pauses to ask herself why before she simply yields to it, accepting it as the way things are... or how they should be. Why she's been so clingy and needy since the masquerade, so desperate for his love, and why she's so on edge.

Yes. It's all because of Zack and Cloud, but does she really want to talk about it right now?]

Yeah... I guess we do. What about them?

[That's...honestly a great question. This is all so complicated, where does he even start?]

Are you still worried about what to do? I don't want to rush you into anything... But if there's something on your mind, you can tell me.

[He reaches out to her, palm cupping her cheek.]

Should we try to meet them?

[Something on her mind? There's plenty...

As he reaches out to her, she leans her cheek into his hand, seeking out and savouring the warmth that it gives. Her arms slowly and instinctively wrap around him, and she wants nothing more than to kiss him right now... to make him stop talking about Zack and Cloud and whatever else is troubling him...

But that voice in her head urges her on, her heart imploring her to continue to lure him just a little further...]

I don't know if I'm ready...

[She falls back into old habits, hoping that this will help to ease some of his nerves as she gently kisses his finger closest to her lips.

Her eyes water over, and as she looks up at him, they glisten helplessly.]

I'm sorry. [Tifa's voice is quiet, gentle, and she sounds as if she may be on the verge of tears.] I guess I have been acting strange lately... I keep trying not to think about it... to give myself a little more time, but... maybe it's not working as well as I hoped.

[She lets the tears she would have once fought tumble over her cheeks.]

I'm just making it worse... I'm sorry.

[...He knew it. Seeing her becoming more upset, he regrets asking, but he knows they have to deal with this. But...

...

He pulls her into his arms, hugging her close.]

No, it's fine. Perhaps it really is too soon...

[It has only been two days...]

We can't put it off forever, but we can hold off for now. Just let me know what I can do to help you in the meantime.

[He has no idea what he just walked himself into by saying that.]

[He really doesn't, and as he hugs her close, a smile ghosts over Tifa's lips...

Her sniffles are muffled against his chest, and while that smile does disappear, she doesn't move from where he holds her. She really would rather avoid talking about it—she doesn't want to think about them, doesn't want to hear about them, doesn't want him speaking their names. The only name she wants to hear from his lips is...]

Mm...

[What can he do to help her...

Tifa mulls it over a moment before she lifts her face, showing him the tears that line the bottoms of her lids and cling to her lashes.]

It's still early. Why don't we go someplace for a while? Outside of town?

Outside of town?

[He looks at her curiously...but when he thinks about it, it's not a bad idea, really. So he gives a thoughtful nod.]

All right. The fresh air might help clear your mind.

I think it'll help.

[With arms still firmly wrapped around him, Tifa smiles up at Eustace before she seeks a kiss from him. Yeah, maybe this will help clear the fog that's been thickening in her head... She really hasn't been thinking straight, always distracted by him whenever he's near...

And even as she frees him after that quick kiss, she laments silently to herself that missing feeling of closeness when it's gone, and the air around her suddenly feels cooler.]

Should we take the horses?

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end of second night. 1/2

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