{ songerein: inbox }

[flamekthunder]

Comments

[flamekthunder]

[Eria just feebly lifts her head and tries to cast some cold air...

...but it poofs out too quickly to be of much use and she just whiiiiiines.]

[starshower]

[Oh no... Eria, you were her last line of defense against the heat.]

This is worst than I thought...

[Tifa pushes herself up from the floor and looks around at the scene in front of her again. It isn't much of one, but with Eustace lying face-down on the floor with a puddle of water beneath him, Eria dying on the couch, and Melody digging her paws into Eustace's back, it leaves her at a complete loss.]

Eustace... [She tries one more time.] We only have one tray of ice in the freezer and you know I can't do anything with that...

[She can make fire and heat, but how helpful is that here??? If anything, she has no idea how much worse she's making it with her constant worrying.]

[flamekthunder]

[Ugh... Uuugggh...

It's only now that Eustace makes an attempt to move, his hand twitching as if trying to move. Of course...it's sticky, but the water also helped to loosen things some so slowly....... VEEERRRYYY slowly he manages to roll himself over...onto his back.

With a not so pleasant "peeling" sound.]

[starshower]

[Tifa winces, her teeth gritting at the sound of his skin unpeeling itself from the sticky floor (she still hasn't figured out why it's like this), and she moves to help him just as he is able to roll himself onto his back.

Her hand is cool from the glass of water, and she presses that same palm to his forehead, pushing his dampened hair back.]

What happened while I was gone...?

[flamekthunder]

...Hot...

[That's all he manages to say before he manages to be less pathetic.]

Just got....really hot... Unbearable...

[starshower]

[Well... 'patheticness' is all very subjective, isn't it...?

Tifa hardly thinks this is that, but it is a bit... pitiful to watch her husband—her strong pillar of a husband who she looks to for strength when she can't find it within herself—being taken out so badly by the heat. She expected it to be bad, but this...?

What is she supposed to do?

She gives him a sheepish smile.]

Well, I can't really do anything for you on the floor like this...

[flamekthunder]

Just get a hose.........attach it to the sink.............

[How the mighty has fallen.]

[starshower]

[Whatever water droplets are left in the glass (RIP the ice, though), Tifa sprinkles over his face.]

You know I can't do that.

[She just cleaned up in here!!!!! Or has the heat made him forget?]

At least sit up so you can drink something.

[And she's just going to try sliding a hand under his back to help him do just that, only...

...

....

Uh oh. Is her hand stuck?]

[flamekthunder]

[Ugghh... He barely opens his eyes at her to stare.

Woman.

Your husband is melting.

Is this really the time to worry about cleaning??? Gonna need it to get rid of whatever is making this floor sticky to begin with!!!

Speaking of, at her attempt he will also try...

...

Only to not be able to move either. This results in him falling back so rip her hand.]

Forget it...

[starshower]

My hand...

[Still, in spite of that, she doesn't think much of it yet as she leans over him with another lopsided smile and even a laugh. Her ponytail falls over her shoulder to tickle his nose, and with her now free hand after setting the glass down, she runs it through his hair combing it back again to keep his forehead cool.]

Am I going to have to carry you?

[Though, the more she brushes his hair...

...

The fluffier and thicker it becomes.........]

[flamekthunder]

[Just another grunt and groan as he makes a half-assed attempt to moved.]

If you can eve...pry me off... No idea why....

[...He's barely finishing sentences now.]

...Save Eria first....

[starshower]

[Eria barely looks up from where she's laying on the couch, and Tifa hears a low, lamenting whine from her.]

Alright...

[Her voice falls away the longer she stares down at him, and it's only now that she can see just how much volume and floof that his hair has gained just from her brushing her fingers through it. It's... bigger than she's ever seen it before, like a cloud, or a shaggy dog after it's shaken the water from its fur...

...

Her eyes go wide, and she tears her eyes away before she can either laugh or sigh.]

Um, l-let me just...

[Tifa pulls on her other hand, but it doesn't budge. So, she pulls again.

...

Well shit.]

Eustace... I think my hand's stuck...

[flamekthunder]

[He has no idea what's going on with his hair...and probably for the best. Maybe that's where the extra weight is coming from...

But he'll open one eye and look over her.]

Hand...? Ah...

[Right. Behind his back.

WITH GREAT EFFORT he'll try to roll onto his side.]

[starshower]

[It's definitely for the best, and she's not going to tell him a thing... Hopefully by the time he actually manages to get up and go to a mirror, that floof will have died down a little. Okay, no. A lot. Tifa didn't think it would get that bad.

Except as Eustace rolls onto his side with his help like he's a giant egg, Tifa's hand goes with him, until there's a sharp peeling noise when she tries to tear it off like a bandaid...

And rips it away like one, the force of it sending her reeling backwards.]

Oh god, are you okay!?

[She heard that one.]

[flamekthunder]

[Okay.

THAT ONE HE FELT since her hand had been on his bare back, and his body actually stiffens as he hisses, first stretching out than inward like a cat.]

Fuck... The hell is this...glue??

[Like a fly in a trap???]

[starshower]

[She feels so bad???]

You tell me. I'm the one who found you like this!

[She touches her hands together, her nose crinkling in confusion.]

Is this just from the humidity? The whole house is like this... almost like... everything is sweating...

[flamekthunder]

No idea... It wasn't like this earlier....

[Ugh... His back still stings and oddly enough it's helped to awaken him further. So he'll try again to sit up...

...

But the air just feels so *heavy* as if it's deliberately trying to push him down.



Or is that the strange weight on his head???]

[starshower]

[That strange weight on his head might be the hair, but she's going to continue to pretend not to see it.

But now that he's getting up, or trying to, she's going to stand and rush to the kitchen, doing her best to keep her footfalls light so that she doesn't stick to the floor any more than she already has, so that she can get him some more water. With more ice.]

Here... Drink.

[And when she returns with it, she brings it to his lips so that he doesn't have to lift a finger to hold it. Now she's just being fussy.]

Have you tried a cold shower? Or a bath?

[That question is for both Eustace and Eria, but she thinks she already knows the answer: GRRROOOOOAAAAN.]

[flamekthunder]

[He managed to get himself up far enough where he's propped up by his hand, but still not quite sitting. He's afraid he might fall over he did. But he will be grateful for the water, gulping it down until it's empty.]

We did... Earlier... Even dunked my head under the sink... But it wasn't enough...

[starshower]

[Well, at least that's a better answer than she anticipated.]

I see...

[Just another subtle but pointed glance up at his hair. Well, that explains that, and the puddle of water that had formed around his head while he was still lying down.]

Well, I have some ice cream if you—ah! I almost forgot...!

[Immediately, Tifa sets the glass down and leaps to her feet to rush back to the door. She'd left the groceries there when she came in to complete silence, and now...

Eustace will hear a sad "oh no..." come from the front entrance of the house, followed by a dripping as Tifa walks back into the room with two bags soaked with melted ice cream.]

...Never mind...

[flamekthunder]

[There's just a collective groan and whine at that, the bits of hope so horribly dashed.]

Sorry...because of me... What about the rest of the groceries...?

[Eria being dramatic on the couch. ICE CREEEEEAM!!]

[starshower]

[Melody, on the other hand, is quite excited about this new turn of events, and she hops out of Eustace's lap to lick the trail of spilled ice cream on the floor. How quickly she gave up the role of supportive grandchild for a treat...

As for the rest of the groceries...]

Ah... [Tifa gives him an apologetic look and lifts up the bags a little higher to show how soaked through they are.] Looks like everything else got ruined, too.

[Hearing him accuse himself though, she immediately drops them to the floor and rushes to him, as Melody tries to climb into one of them now.....]

But it's not your fault, though. I was more worried that... something bad had happened...

[flamekthunder]

[Melody nooooooo......

...

His ears may or may not be dropping a bit.]

Even so...

[With (an attempt of) renewed vigor, he once more tries to sit himself up.]

To allow myself...to be in such a state...

[How pathetic could he really be!?]

Clearly... I've relaxed too much... Need to train.....

[...And now his thoughts are going in a wild direction.]

[starshower]

[A very wild direction. He just took a very sharp turn in that Tifa wasn't expecting, and now she can't help but furrow her brows in confusion at him.]

Train...? For what?

[Do not be ridiculous, husband. Or... oh no... did he take those words to heart? Did he hear them and run with it?]

You know I was only joking when I talked about it taking you down, yeah?

[flamekthunder]

No... I have to prepare...for any kind of situation...

[Yeah the heat has gotten to his brain.

At least he's trying to stand again??? But man is that floor sticky.]