[Okay, well that isn't playing it safe, and the way that the air buzzes with just a dash of heat around them is enough to indicate that because yes, Tifa feels incredibly called out by that. Especially with how her eyes keep lingering on him...]
I didn't do anything—!
[She feels the need to remind him of that, especially when she feels that shift in the air, and she sinks a little further into the water as if it will help hide her shame.
And she's just going to pout at him while she searches for a topic to steer to.]
[He just arches a knowing brow at her as he watches her sink into the water, the corner of his lips rising higher.
Cute.]
No, but you haven't seen yours, either.
[And he'll reach over to the shelf where they keep the various things they use for the bath, like the towels, soaps, etc—and pulls out the handheld mirror for her to see.]
[No, she was supposed to show him first...!!! She was even going to reach for the mirror before he got to it, and when he lifts it, she catches sight of herself before she can close her eyes in utter refusal and denial. But with her hair still being up in the ponytail, she can see how much the stray hairs stick out, and how the waves in her bangs make it look like she's just come out of a bad perm.
With a crooked smile, she tries to fix the hairs against her forehead, but they only bounce back into their wrongful place.]
...Do I even dare take it down...?
[Or will it actually gain a mind of its own and consume the world?]
[With a bashful look, she reaches up for the ponytail and slowly and very carefully starts to pull it out of her hair, but before she gets halfway through tugging it free, she stops and looks at him with a now very dire, very serious expression.]
[Already his lips are twitching, but this is Eustace she's talking to. So after a moment that amused expression will disappear and he'll have one of his usual neutral looks.]
[She sees that upward twitch, that stifled laugh... There is no hiding from her, but she... does appreciate him... trying? Or is this him just being his usual sly wolf self?
Either way, it takes a few more good pulls for her to finally pull her hair free, and as soon as she does...]
Oh...
[She can feel it and it strikes fear within her. The sheer weight of it as it flutters out on either side of her face, spreading out like her head has just sprouted a set of black, wavy butterfly wings...
Beware, Reverein, because Tifa Lockhart's humidity hair may be just the thing that consumes this town whole.....]
[However long it actually goes for, it feels like much, much longer than that. Tifa's fingers tentatively reach up to touch while Eustace works through his emotions, her own eyes glued to him with subdued outrage because wow???
Before her hands even reach it, she pulls back, almost like she's too scared to even touch it... what if something jumps out and bites her hand off!?
But when Eustace starts to laugh...
...
Tifa frowns deeply at him—though it's more a pout than a frown again—and splashes him with the water.]
[Well, at least he's making an effort!? But this betrayal...!]
Well...
[After a few more seconds of pouting, she leans in close to reach past him (no, she's not trying to be sexy about it because she knows it won't work) to grab the mirror that he'd set down.
...
And lifts it in front of him so that he can see himself, and the frizzy dog that lives on top of his head.]
How is she supposed to maintain the grumpy, stern wife when he laughs like that? It's not even that rare a sight these days, but even then, it still fills her with so much warmth and love that she can't help but break the façade with a smile.
...
Before she's giggling alongside him.]
I told you that you looked like Eria after a bath...
[At least the wolf isn't here to hear them this time!!!]
[He can barely speak between fits of laughter, the water rippling with his movements. And fortunately with the laughter comes a cooler, springtime breeze, as if to reflect the refreshing nature of the mood.]
[She's put the mirror down and is now trying to tame some of it with her fingers, running through it, and while it isn't tangled per se, it's definitely not easy.
But that breeze is nice, and feeling it, seeing his smiles, Tifa can't help but scoot a little closer to him.]
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