[The way he holds her gaze like that is alarming, but what's more startling is the way her heart tries to leap out of her chest when he says her name, and the way its beating seems to drown the rest of his words out of her head. It's so terrifying that she wants nothing more than to get up and run, hide away somewhere until whatever torrent of emotions this is settles, but then he's pulling her to him again, and holding her tighter this time.
Eustace...?
She squeaks quietly against his chest, but she makes no effort to move. His warmth is inviting, so she allows herself the selfish moment of burrowing into it, curling up once more. She tries not to let the tension in her entire body show, but it's too obvious to be able to mask it. Her hands remain balled into fists, her shoulders up near her ears, and her jaw clamped tight.
With no clue what to say to him at first, there's a silence that hangs over them. It could be just her, but it's so tense that it feels like the air could snap under the lightest breath, and so she holds as much air in her lungs she can manage while she tries to put words together to say. To explain to him why she had sprung this on him so suddenly, and unintentionally. This wasn't how this night was supposed to go. It had already gone sideways when the fog rolled in, and now...? Where were they now?
What the hell is she doing?
... ]
Cloud and I grew up together, [she begins finally. However long after, she has no idea.] In Nibelheim. He lived next door. He was always so shy, never wanted to hang out with the rest of us, no matter how many times I asked.
[A small, fond breath of laughter rings out from her. Why is she even telling him this?]
I always thought he was... [No, what she was going to say is silly, so she steers it away.] He left for Midgar to be a SOLDIER... become a war hero. I was thirteen, at the time. I always admired him, you know. I don't think he knew that.
[ ... ]
Anyway. That night, when he told me he was leaving, I made him promise that... he'd come save me if I was ever in trouble.
[In case he wondered what that promise meant.]
We finally saw each other again after five years, in Midgar. I found him lying on the platform at the train station, and I... we... [She sighs again.] Few days later, I show up here. Next thing I know, Aerith's telling me she hasn't seen him and I...
[Her fingers curl into Eustace's shirt again, and she swallows her words the moment she feels that surge of emotion rising up again.]
no subject
Eustace...?
She squeaks quietly against his chest, but she makes no effort to move. His warmth is inviting, so she allows herself the selfish moment of burrowing into it, curling up once more. She tries not to let the tension in her entire body show, but it's too obvious to be able to mask it. Her hands remain balled into fists, her shoulders up near her ears, and her jaw clamped tight.
With no clue what to say to him at first, there's a silence that hangs over them. It could be just her, but it's so tense that it feels like the air could snap under the lightest breath, and so she holds as much air in her lungs she can manage while she tries to put words together to say. To explain to him why she had sprung this on him so suddenly, and unintentionally. This wasn't how this night was supposed to go. It had already gone sideways when the fog rolled in, and now...? Where were they now?
What the hell is she doing?
... ]
Cloud and I grew up together, [she begins finally. However long after, she has no idea.] In Nibelheim. He lived next door. He was always so shy, never wanted to hang out with the rest of us, no matter how many times I asked.
[A small, fond breath of laughter rings out from her. Why is she even telling him this?]
I always thought he was... [No, what she was going to say is silly, so she steers it away.] He left for Midgar to be a SOLDIER... become a war hero. I was thirteen, at the time. I always admired him, you know. I don't think he knew that.
[ ... ]
Anyway. That night, when he told me he was leaving, I made him promise that... he'd come save me if I was ever in trouble.
[In case he wondered what that promise meant.]
We finally saw each other again after five years, in Midgar. I found him lying on the platform at the train station, and I... we... [She sighs again.] Few days later, I show up here. Next thing I know, Aerith's telling me she hasn't seen him and I...
[Her fingers curl into Eustace's shirt again, and she swallows her words the moment she feels that surge of emotion rising up again.]