_{@scphiroth​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   n – no …  you’re not real …  you can’t be !!   ’}

_{@mersener requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   sorry for bothering you ; think you could join me for a drink ?   ’}

_{@makopoint​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   y’know ; i’ve been meaning to ask – back at the train graveyard, you seemed a little… spooked.   ’}

_{@omniiborn​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   do you really think… we can fix all of this ?   ’  guilt and trepidation dripping from each syllable, and she can’t help the shattering of her once-hardened facade;  tifa can’t lie to herself, they caused all of this, and despite trying to do something about it and fix it, she wonders if it can even be done.  so, she looks to him – for guidance, answers that she hopes he has, otherwise, it’ll just be all for nothing.}

_{@featherskyhero​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   wait a minute… i’ve seen you before, haven’t i ?   ’}

_{@grdna​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   hey, aer… you holdin’ up okay ?   ’  a soft tone in her voice, albeit tired as they walk side-by-side.  she’s unaware of how much time has passed since they left midgar, and her mind is still trying to process it all.  ‘   i know it’s been… a lot happening lately.   ’}

_{@devilreno​ requested a starter !!}

      _{‘   y’know– when you turks show up, it seems like danger follows closely. so tell me, what do you want?   ’}

_{@materiabladed​ requested a starter !!}

       ‘   _{cloud? what’re you doing up this early?   ’}

_{@niflim​ - requested a starter !!}

       _{‘   so… what do we do now? what lies ahead?   ’}

makogaze·:

❛ hey –you uh…just looked like you needed a friend back there. ❜ //@ofnibelheim·

      _{‘   i did, yeah… how are… how are you holding up? with everything? ‘}

makogaze·:

it’s hard to keep track of all the things he owes her for: giving him a roof over his head and a group of rag tag outsiders to call family top the list, but there’s one thing he can never truly thank her enough for. she reminded him what hope felt like. when he was ragged and hewn, he found his way back to her, a soldier returning home though not even he knew it yet. she’d changed, yes, but into the kind of woman he could fall in love with all over again. but second changes don’t come easy, and this time he had the courage to say so.

❛ oh? what am i gonna do with you and all this time together? ❜ he teases, a playful lift to his tone. after all their time apart, it sounds like heaven –fitting that it’s the name of her own bar. as she steals a kiss, he smiles against her lips, slight but undeniable. ❛ if we’re gonna be spendin’ all this time together, i could get used to that. ❜ he teases.

      _{a soft giggle past lips and slipped so delicately into the lingering seconds of the kiss, she pulls back from him, just about an inch or so; it’s enough to be able to read those eyes of his, tinged with the green hues of mako, but surrounded by those baby blues she remembers from their youth.}

     _{‘    hm… y’know there may be some ideas we can explore,   ’ she replies, teasing as much as him and mimicking a similar tone. who would have thought she, tifa lockhart, would be able to have moments like these with him? if someone had told her younger self, there would only be denial.}

     _{tifa isn’t sure what cloud sees in her, to have confessed to her the night prior, but if anything is for sure, she wouldn’t have it any other way. ‘   well, whatd’ya know? i think i could get used t’it too.   ’ a slip of the accent from their hometown, and she only allows it around him. their connection, their not-so-little secret. it’s what bound them together in the first place.}

     _{‘   hey, forgot t’ask. want some coffee?   ’ there’s an embarrassed and shy smile upon her lips, she just can’t help getting so distracted by him.}

bustbreaker‌:

     He could see it, he wasn’t blind. She was hurting too. They both had their nightmares, the things that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Which only made him feel that much more guilty. She dealt with it as much as he did and yet she was so much stronger. Her suffered was just as deep and yet she still wore a smile when he couldn’t even imagine doing the same. 

His lips part to speak, to tell her it’s okay to hurt, that it’s okay to feel something; like so many times she had told him the same. He hadn’t done well to take her advice so who was he to give it in return? 

And so his sky gaze drifts down to the bar’s surfaces, so many things he wanted to say. He wanted to make everything okay, she deserved it; if anyone deserved happiness it was Tifa. And yet, Cloud always made her worry for him. Never knowing where he was, or if he was okay, or even what he was getting himself mixed up in. 

His gaze lifts when she’s turning back around holding a familiar bottle of whiskey. A soft smile spreads across the blond’s lips, a small nod of his head following “ sure. ” he wasn’t much for drinking, but he was home for the time being. It wouldn’t hurt. 

     <sub>when she sees that small nod, accompanied by a rare smile, she gives a nod of her own, subtle, and rounds the counter to take a seat beside him. she sets down to glasses on the counter, settles on the bar stool, and carefully pulls out the cork before pouring the deep amber liquid into each glass, about a shots worth.

     a small sigh past lips once again, she takes her glass into her hand, swirling it around a bit, before pausing and looking at him.

     as much as she tries to hide her pain, to hide it from the kids and their friends and especially from him, she knows all too well that cloud can see past the facade, that he can read her like a book, just like she can read him.

     ‘  you  can  admit  that  you’re  hurting …   it’s  okay  to  not  be  okay . ’ another pause with a quiet chuckle, tifa shakes her head and looks down at the drink in her hands. ‘ i’m giving advice that i can’t even follow … how sad is that? ’</sub>