[From here, she can feel every small movement he makes—every breath, every twitch of his muscles, and every beat of his heart in tandem with her own thundering in her head, and how it quickens with hers. When had she become so hyper-aware of it all? When did she become so aware of how his familiar scent—the smell of bergamot and lime, cedarwood and jasmine—mixes in her head to a dizzying point, or how close he is when she feels his breath tickle her ear, and his hair on her neck?
Instinct tells her to lean further into it. Her eyes flutter shut and with a dazed breath, she sinks into him, his lips coming dangerously close to her skin. Her own short, shaky breaths burn against his neck, and she waits. For what? Not even Tifa is fully aware of what that is, let alone that she's waiting for anything at all. There's that pang of selfishness, and perhaps the hope that this will evolve into something more. Something else.
That he'll tell her what she doesn't realize she wants him to say until he says it.
Eustace's voice shudders in her ears, and there's the prickle of chills across her neck and arms, and in that moment, it takes her a second to parse what he's said, and the twinge of disappointment that follows. Set up camp? Is that what was going through his head then? That's when it sets in that... she had been hoping for something else. Something that they might have come alarmingly close to if she'd just...
There's a sharp sigh that escapes her, and Tifa is quick to pull away, putting that distance there that Eustace had been so close to doing himself. Her dried up tears still stain her cheeks, and she wipes them away one last time before sliding back across the ground to give herself the room she needs to get up... and separate herself from whatever she'd just been feeling.
It doesn't help. It only makes her feel empty again. Alone.]
Right... [she says at last, her voice quiet and heavy with shame.] Camp.
[It makes sense that it would be the first and only thing on his mind. Eustace is a practical man, after all, and it was silly of her to dump all of that on him without any warning. Silly of her to hold onto even the small, tiniest possibility of something else...
Stupid.
Flexing her fingers in an effort to shake it all off, she puts on a smile and looks around them for any sign of kindling they might use to make a fire, but they're surrounded by nothing but rock and green, glowing mushrooms that, now that she's looking at them again, remind her all too much of the glow of mako...
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Instinct tells her to lean further into it. Her eyes flutter shut and with a dazed breath, she sinks into him, his lips coming dangerously close to her skin. Her own short, shaky breaths burn against his neck, and she waits. For what? Not even Tifa is fully aware of what that is, let alone that she's waiting for anything at all. There's that pang of selfishness, and perhaps the hope that this will evolve into something more. Something else.
That he'll tell her what she doesn't realize she wants him to say until he says it.
Eustace's voice shudders in her ears, and there's the prickle of chills across her neck and arms, and in that moment, it takes her a second to parse what he's said, and the twinge of disappointment that follows. Set up camp? Is that what was going through his head then? That's when it sets in that... she had been hoping for something else. Something that they might have come alarmingly close to if she'd just...
There's a sharp sigh that escapes her, and Tifa is quick to pull away, putting that distance there that Eustace had been so close to doing himself. Her dried up tears still stain her cheeks, and she wipes them away one last time before sliding back across the ground to give herself the room she needs to get up... and separate herself from whatever she'd just been feeling.
It doesn't help. It only makes her feel empty again. Alone.]
Right... [she says at last, her voice quiet and heavy with shame.] Camp.
[It makes sense that it would be the first and only thing on his mind. Eustace is a practical man, after all, and it was silly of her to dump all of that on him without any warning. Silly of her to hold onto even the small, tiniest possibility of something else...
Stupid.
Flexing her fingers in an effort to shake it all off, she puts on a smile and looks around them for any sign of kindling they might use to make a fire, but they're surrounded by nothing but rock and green, glowing mushrooms that, now that she's looking at them again, remind her all too much of the glow of mako...
So, she turns to the cave's entrance.]
I can go grab some firewood.