[He willingly obliges, gently falling onto the bed with her, his arm protecting her as they descend. And once down, he smirks a little as he meets her gaze, eyes gleaming and simmering with that dark, familiar heat, subdued only by the more fluffy, lighthearted air that still surrounds them.]
[Tifa's arms tighten around him to hold him close, to press him further against her until there's no space and no air left between their bodies. Legs hook around his, locking him in, and she brushes her nose with his, her grin pulling wider.]
I guess we'll just have to make do... Or use your imagination.
[And that's all she'll say before she's kissing him again and this time, she truly doesn't let him go. She intends to make him fulfill the promise that he made behind the bar counter, but she won't be satisfied with just one. No, it will be double to make up for the trouble she had to go through waiting to get here. And of course, without question or doubt, he makes good on it, always so much more than she expects.
The afternoon flies by, and by the time they're finished and have rested together for a while, curled up in each other's arms, the sun has almost fully set. The room is no longer filled with oranges and reds but violets, and the cool light of the moon that filters in through the small crevices in the vines that have now crept up around them. As always, the room carries the same sweet scent of the flowers that always bloom around them, and their glow helps to illuminate the sharp features of Eustace's face when Tifa looks up at him and presses a tender, featherlight kiss to his lips in thanks.
It won't be long after that when they hear the sound of the dogs barking as they approach the house, almost like they're warning of Lyria's return with them. It's probably time that Tifa starts to prepare dinner anyway, so after a little bit of extra cuddling and getting cleaned up and dressed, she heads to the kitchen. The three of them eat at the table together with the dogs around them as they have been doing every night since the girl's arrival—it's something new that Tifa is getting used to, but it's lively having Lyria around.
The rest of the evening flies by as well, and once they have all said goodnight and the dogs return to the ground floor, all seven of them trotting sleepily behind Lyria, Tifa and Eustace continue with their usual nighttime routine to get ready for bed.
After a shower, they lay together with Tifa curled up against him, her head resting on his chest and her fingers drawing light lines over his abdomen as she idly muses to herself, mulling over her thoughts for the day, until a huff of a fond laugh finds its way out of her.]
... Still not used to having someone else around yet. It was just the two of us for a long time... and the dogs.
[Double, triple, however many times she needs. They are starting to live a different life where it's not just the two of them (and dogs) and so whatever chance they have, he's taking full advantage of whatever opportunity they have. But it's not just to pick up where they left off. Her present rekindled that love he holds for her and while it really doesn't take much, knowing she remembered and held onto these charms, had still wanted to have them, those memories... It's a heavy but grateful feeling that he wishes to fully express to her.
And now, after a lighthearted meal with Lyria, he notices something else. He had grown used to just the two of them, but a few days have now passed since Lyria joined them. He didn't think it would feel any different, but... Maybe because it's Lyria, someone he's already fond of, that it does feel different.
So when Tifa brings up the same thoughts he's been having, he hums a little.]
I was thinking similarly, how different it is. Think this is what it's like having a kid around?
[A light, wry smile, especially given how it wasn't that long ago they had that vision... But really, it does feel like that sometimes. Especially with them needing to be more conscious about their, ah, intimate activities.]
[There's a bit of playful, fond chiding in Tifa's voice as she lifts her chin to look up at him, and although the room is dimmer, the only light the starflowers that sprawl through their room, he'll see so, so many thoughts swimming behind her eyes as her voice grows quiet, and part of her smile fades.]
But maybe... Though, I don't know if I see it that way.
[Definitely much of it having to do with them needing to be more conscious about when and where they are more intimate... It's an adjustment for sure, but one that she's willing to make for him. More than that though, it's an adjustment simply getting used to having a third head around altogether, intimate activities or not. While their lives remain peaceful, it's a much more energetic and livelier sort that the girl brings along with her.
Tifa falls quiet again for a moment.]
She reminds me a lot of... me... when I was younger.
[Perhaps that's why she tries to correct Eustace when he treats her more like a kid...]
[It's harder for him, knowing how Lyria is. She's actually quite powerful and has her own strengths, but she's also very weak. And they already reminded him a fair bit of his past siblings...]
[The older parts of her that Eustace hasn't seen yet... the ones that she's still so afraid to show him, when Tifa had been at her weakest while at the same time, forced to be her strongest. But that isn't what it is that reminds Tifa so much of herself.
Then again, she could be wrong, and could simply be working on assumptions and first impressions, but Tifa remembers what it was like to have to learn how to be independent in some ways, but also... how lonely and quiet that felt.]
She knows a lot for her age... [There's a pause, and Tifa's arm slides around his waist so that she can pull herself closer.] Was she alone or something for a while?
[Eustace is quiet for a moment before he closes his eyes briefly, the information of what had been gathered immediately coming to mind.]
...I don't know all the details, but for the most part, yes. While she had someone looking after her, she was more of an escort. It was only after finding and meeting Gran was she able to really experience life and meet other people.
It's just like how it had been when Tifa met Avalanche. Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, Barret, and the others... Before that, she spent a long time alone, not knowing what to do or where to go, and meeting other people became difficult for her. Until they came along.
But Tifa realizes that there's still so much that she doesn't know about Eustace's past, or his world... Or his friends. She's seen them once in the dreamscape, but beyond watching them all laugh together, that was it. The rest is all things that she can only peace together from what he tells her.]
[Again he remains quiet, pondering over how to answer.]
...Yes.
[He looks at her.]
However, it's better if you ask her about it. The information I have is what has been gathered by Society intel—I'm not sure if Lyria realizes how much I know.
[Though the fact that intel was gathered...it's a deliberate hint to Tifa.]
[She's not sure she knows Lyria well enough that she could outright ask... Maybe someday, but for now, Tifa's head tips with her chin resting on his chest.
She does catch onto his choice of wording. Intel... Considering what he did for a living... She'll piece it all together in a moment.]
[Again he hesitates before he pulls out a line he hasn't used in a long...long time.]
It's classified.
[Very quiet. Muted. And then he goes on further.]
...However I mean that in that this is something that I can't just share without asking Lyria first. It's sensitive information...enough that I was originally assigned to monitor and then later ordered to eliminate her, Gran, and Vyrn.
[It's not easy to mask her disappointment, nor is it difficult to see or hear it in how she shifts away from him a bit, but she gets it... Mostly. She doesn't seem dangerous—completely harmless, in fact—but it's something she at least does feel she should know if she's going to be living under their roof...
[He knows she's disappointed, but he really, truly believes this isn't something he can just share about another person given...the nature of it. It would be like spilling someone's secret, and he can't say it in good conscience. But he can at least say a little more.]
Gran, Lyria, and Vyrn are unique individuals in my world, and hold a great amount of power that HQ started to think of them as a threat to the safety of the world. That was why I was assigned that mission.
[Can he at least her that Gran is known as the Singularity in his world? It's become more open knowledge than not, but it's not something the young captain goes around proclaiming, either. He's also not here...would it matter? Again he chews on his thoughts, wondering what would be right and fair before he continues.]
However, since I had already been around them, I could see their true behaviors and personalities and immediately rejected it. It was the first time I had refused an order and went against the organization. Given how things had fallen out, I also suspect the origin of that order...
[His expression hardens briefly before he shakes his head.]
But things like that—people and beings going after their lives, is more common than not. Lyria, especially, is vulnerable due to her position.
[She keeps her gaze pinned to her hands as they clutch gently at the sheets, and her lips press together as she listens and mulls it all over, the crinkle in her brow conveniently hidden behind the hair that tumbles onto her face when her head finds her pillow instead.]
... You didn't get in trouble for refusing, did you?
They were angry. However, I had Flamek and was considered one of their strongest agents. Without me they would be at more of a loss. So there wasn't much they could do and I managed to convince them to give up and rescind the other orders targeting them.
Mm... Both. I also stayed with Society on the condition the organization backed off. I continued to assist and travel with Gran when I didn't have any missions.
[He leans back a little against his pillow as he considers how his life has changed like that.]
They are no longer in danger from them, outside of any rogue factions that may have other ideas. But that is another reason why I stay with the organization—to keep tabs on what's going on and intervene if necessary.
I had considered, but they didn't need to know. They already have enough to worry about, so I just took it on myself to take care of things. But if they ever asked, I would tell them.
She's quickly realizing how little she does know about him even now, but she tries not to think or focus too much on it, but her words do come a little slower, more thoughtful now... like she isn't sure what to say anymore, but Tifa does offer him a lopsided smile.]
... You made the choice not to, and that's what matters, right?
[His gesture is surprising, and there's even a gasp as she's pulled to him, but after that initial alarm, she yields to it. She doesn't wrap her arms around him quite yet, nor does she look at him. Instead, her face finds a place to rest on his chest. Tifa tries to shake her head in response to his question, but he'll know better than that.
Bothered might not be quite the right word she would attach to this, but—]
No. Just... Every time I hear about your life before us...
[Her voice grows quieter.]
I think about how much I still don't know.
[It isn't his secret to tell her, she understands, but she remembers the first time she had heard those words from him. The one and only time had been in the hot springs in Camelot, and back then, they had been at the start of their relationship... But she would be lying if she said that it didn't sting a little more when she can feel the weight of the rings as her fingers idly fidget with them under the sheets as they tend to in moments like this.]
[And then a small sigh as he gently strokes her break.]
But I could say the same to you—there's still a lot I don't know about you. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Learning about each other, old or new... That's part of the process, isn't it?
[Tifa nods, her smile turning a little less lopsided, and her hand slips out from under the sheets to find his, pulling it away from her back so that she can hold it, and so that she run her fingers along his ring.]
We said we would... after the wedding.
[Promised that they would share more with each other... and that there would be no more secrets between them, no matter how terrifying or scary it is to share them. She intends to hold them both to that promise.
There's plenty that they still have left to learn, and time to do it in... but it's moments like this when it hits her that they truly are from two very different worlds, two different lives that maybe neither will ever fully come to understand and know, and while that leaves room for excitement and discovery, it's still a bittersweet thought.
And as she delicately threads her fingers through his, she sighs.]
[There's just a soft smile as he nuzzles her affectionately.]
Why? I only wish I could tell you more...but it's just sensitive for Lyria that I don't feel I have the right to share something like that without her permission.
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flamekthunder) wrote2025-04-07 09:12 pm
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Well before you were on a counter...
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[Tifa's arms tighten around him to hold him close, to press him further against her until there's no space and no air left between their bodies. Legs hook around his, locking him in, and she brushes her nose with his, her grin pulling wider.]
I guess we'll just have to make do... Or use your imagination.
[And that's all she'll say before she's kissing him again and this time, she truly doesn't let him go. She intends to make him fulfill the promise that he made behind the bar counter, but she won't be satisfied with just one. No, it will be double to make up for the trouble she had to go through waiting to get here. And of course, without question or doubt, he makes good on it, always so much more than she expects.
The afternoon flies by, and by the time they're finished and have rested together for a while, curled up in each other's arms, the sun has almost fully set. The room is no longer filled with oranges and reds but violets, and the cool light of the moon that filters in through the small crevices in the vines that have now crept up around them. As always, the room carries the same sweet scent of the flowers that always bloom around them, and their glow helps to illuminate the sharp features of Eustace's face when Tifa looks up at him and presses a tender, featherlight kiss to his lips in thanks.
It won't be long after that when they hear the sound of the dogs barking as they approach the house, almost like they're warning of Lyria's return with them. It's probably time that Tifa starts to prepare dinner anyway, so after a little bit of extra cuddling and getting cleaned up and dressed, she heads to the kitchen. The three of them eat at the table together with the dogs around them as they have been doing every night since the girl's arrival—it's something new that Tifa is getting used to, but it's lively having Lyria around.
The rest of the evening flies by as well, and once they have all said goodnight and the dogs return to the ground floor, all seven of them trotting sleepily behind Lyria, Tifa and Eustace continue with their usual nighttime routine to get ready for bed.
After a shower, they lay together with Tifa curled up against him, her head resting on his chest and her fingers drawing light lines over his abdomen as she idly muses to herself, mulling over her thoughts for the day, until a huff of a fond laugh finds its way out of her.]
... Still not used to having someone else around yet. It was just the two of us for a long time... and the dogs.
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And now, after a lighthearted meal with Lyria, he notices something else. He had grown used to just the two of them, but a few days have now passed since Lyria joined them. He didn't think it would feel any different, but... Maybe because it's Lyria, someone he's already fond of, that it does feel different.
So when Tifa brings up the same thoughts he's been having, he hums a little.]
I was thinking similarly, how different it is. Think this is what it's like having a kid around?
[A light, wry smile, especially given how it wasn't that long ago they had that vision... But really, it does feel like that sometimes. Especially with them needing to be more conscious about their, ah, intimate activities.]
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She's hardly a kid, you know.
[There's a bit of playful, fond chiding in Tifa's voice as she lifts her chin to look up at him, and although the room is dimmer, the only light the starflowers that sprawl through their room, he'll see so, so many thoughts swimming behind her eyes as her voice grows quiet, and part of her smile fades.]
But maybe... Though, I don't know if I see it that way.
[Definitely much of it having to do with them needing to be more conscious about when and where they are more intimate... It's an adjustment for sure, but one that she's willing to make for him. More than that though, it's an adjustment simply getting used to having a third head around altogether, intimate activities or not. While their lives remain peaceful, it's a much more energetic and livelier sort that the girl brings along with her.
Tifa falls quiet again for a moment.]
She reminds me a lot of... me... when I was younger.
[Perhaps that's why she tries to correct Eustace when he treats her more like a kid...]
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Yeah?
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[The older parts of her that Eustace hasn't seen yet... the ones that she's still so afraid to show him, when Tifa had been at her weakest while at the same time, forced to be her strongest. But that isn't what it is that reminds Tifa so much of herself.
Then again, she could be wrong, and could simply be working on assumptions and first impressions, but Tifa remembers what it was like to have to learn how to be independent in some ways, but also... how lonely and quiet that felt.]
She knows a lot for her age... [There's a pause, and Tifa's arm slides around his waist so that she can pull herself closer.] Was she alone or something for a while?
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...I don't know all the details, but for the most part, yes. While she had someone looking after her, she was more of an escort. It was only after finding and meeting Gran was she able to really experience life and meet other people.
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It's just like how it had been when Tifa met Avalanche. Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, Barret, and the others... Before that, she spent a long time alone, not knowing what to do or where to go, and meeting other people became difficult for her. Until they came along.
But Tifa realizes that there's still so much that she doesn't know about Eustace's past, or his world... Or his friends. She's seen them once in the dreamscape, but beyond watching them all laugh together, that was it. The rest is all things that she can only peace together from what he tells her.]
Do you know why?
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...Yes.
[He looks at her.]
However, it's better if you ask her about it. The information I have is what has been gathered by Society intel—I'm not sure if Lyria realizes how much I know.
[Though the fact that intel was gathered...it's a deliberate hint to Tifa.]
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She does catch onto his choice of wording. Intel... Considering what he did for a living... She'll piece it all together in a moment.]
What do you mean? What do you know?
[And why wouldn't she know that he does?]
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It's classified.
[Very quiet. Muted. And then he goes on further.]
...However I mean that in that this is something that I can't just share without asking Lyria first. It's sensitive information...enough that I was originally assigned to monitor and then later ordered to eliminate her, Gran, and Vyrn.
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[It's not easy to mask her disappointment, nor is it difficult to see or hear it in how she shifts away from him a bit, but she gets it... Mostly. She doesn't seem dangerous—completely harmless, in fact—but it's something she at least does feel she should know if she's going to be living under their roof...
But Tifa shakes her head, her heart dropping.]
Wait... Eliminate? All three of them?
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[He knows she's disappointed, but he really, truly believes this isn't something he can just share about another person given...the nature of it. It would be like spilling someone's secret, and he can't say it in good conscience. But he can at least say a little more.]
Gran, Lyria, and Vyrn are unique individuals in my world, and hold a great amount of power that HQ started to think of them as a threat to the safety of the world. That was why I was assigned that mission.
[Can he at least her that Gran is known as the Singularity in his world? It's become more open knowledge than not, but it's not something the young captain goes around proclaiming, either. He's also not here...would it matter? Again he chews on his thoughts, wondering what would be right and fair before he continues.]
However, since I had already been around them, I could see their true behaviors and personalities and immediately rejected it. It was the first time I had refused an order and went against the organization. Given how things had fallen out, I also suspect the origin of that order...
[His expression hardens briefly before he shakes his head.]
But things like that—people and beings going after their lives, is more common than not. Lyria, especially, is vulnerable due to her position.
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... You didn't get in trouble for refusing, did you?
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[From the dreamscape that he showed her... There was never any doubt that Eustace was powerful or influential enough...
She is curious, however.]
So, did you end up going with her instead? You two seem... close.
[For someone who was once ordered to kill her, she wonders if Lyria even knows about that part.]
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[He leans back a little against his pillow as he considers how his life has changed like that.]
They are no longer in danger from them, outside of any rogue factions that may have other ideas. But that is another reason why I stay with the organization—to keep tabs on what's going on and intervene if necessary.
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... Does she know? About what you were ordered to do? And that you refused?
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[His eyes close briefly before he continues.]
I had considered, but they didn't need to know. They already have enough to worry about, so I just took it on myself to take care of things. But if they ever asked, I would tell them.
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[But what does she know...
She's quickly realizing how little she does know about him even now, but she tries not to think or focus too much on it, but her words do come a little slower, more thoughtful now... like she isn't sure what to say anymore, but Tifa does offer him a lopsided smile.]
... You made the choice not to, and that's what matters, right?
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[He can still sense something is off, and after staring at her for a moment, he brings his arms around her and pulls her to him.]
Are you bothered by this?
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Bothered might not be quite the right word she would attach to this, but—]
No. Just... Every time I hear about your life before us...
[Her voice grows quieter.]
I think about how much I still don't know.
[It isn't his secret to tell her, she understands, but she remembers the first time she had heard those words from him. The one and only time had been in the hot springs in Camelot, and back then, they had been at the start of their relationship... But she would be lying if she said that it didn't sting a little more when she can feel the weight of the rings as her fingers idly fidget with them under the sheets as they tend to in moments like this.]
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He looks down at her, uncertain how to answer.]
...These things aren't the easiest to bring up...
[And then a small sigh as he gently strokes her break.]
But I could say the same to you—there's still a lot I don't know about you. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Learning about each other, old or new... That's part of the process, isn't it?
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We said we would... after the wedding.
[Promised that they would share more with each other... and that there would be no more secrets between them, no matter how terrifying or scary it is to share them. She intends to hold them both to that promise.
There's plenty that they still have left to learn, and time to do it in... but it's moments like this when it hits her that they truly are from two very different worlds, two different lives that maybe neither will ever fully come to understand and know, and while that leaves room for excitement and discovery, it's still a bittersweet thought.
And as she delicately threads her fingers through his, she sighs.]
I'm... sorry for asking.
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Why? I only wish I could tell you more...but it's just sensitive for Lyria that I don't feel I have the right to share something like that without her permission.
Regardless, you can always ask me anything.
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🎀