#8limits

                                      ❛   heyy !!   ❜  

she frowns with all the disappointment in the world , her face fallen in dramatics of defeat . she takes a step back , allowing a fair bit of space between the two of them & hassles the man further , as if expecting an apology .

                                     〝   .  .  .    〞    

                                               [  too many people .  ]

CROWDS BUSTLE through the busy streets as the two mercenaries search for their target . squall can feel his skin crawl as people shuffle around him , experiencing the occasional agitation at being bumped into accidentally . he's overwhelmed despite how his dedication to their mission . he manages to slip into an alleyway to refocus .

                            〝   this way .              --   we need a strategy .   〞    

“    come on, cloud! you’re always doing things for me. i think it’s time you let me return the favor for once.   ” she places to horribly wrapped black box in his lap, offering him a soft smile. she knew that getting cloud a gift would be difficult and getting him to accept it would be slightly more difficult.     “    if you don’t accept it... i’ll do a very terrible impression of you.      ”  

( stardust sentence starters | @8limits​​ )

❝ look, i’m sorry about last night. ❞

     ❛ hey, don’t apologize. it’s okay. ❜

     the ease of which he had fallen asleep the night before had shocked her. one moment she had been speaking about their plans for the next few days with cloud sitting beside her ( & while she wasn’t sure if he had been listening, he had certainly been watching ), & the next she had glanced to her side to find his eyes shut & breathing even. she knew that even a gentle touch would probably send him jolting awake, & so she let him rest, continuing their planning beside him like a silent guard.

     ❛ you were tired & you clearly needed your rest if you fell asleep like that. i didn’t want to wake you, but i didn’t want to just...leave you there, either. ❜

     waking him felt wrong. leaving him also felt wrong. & so she’d stayed, resting her arm on the back of the settee & letting her head pillow on her hand as her own eyes shut. she had drifted off to sleep rather quickly–––– at least the inn had invested in comfortable enough couches.

     she hadn’t been surprised in the least to see that he had awoken before her, but the morning had been filled with preparations, & it had been a few hours before they had been able to speak again.

     ❛ besides, i slept just fine! so try not to worry about it, alright? ❜

     the temptation to further check on him was strong. she wanted to brush his hair aside, check his forehead & look for circles under his eyes. she wanted to search for anything that might have told her that he was pushing himself too hard. but she settled for a verbal check––––in instead.

( stardust sentence starters | @8limits​ )

❝ there’s a big world out there. i’m gonna make my fortune. ❞

     she wasn’t quite looking at him anymore. her eyes were focused on the stars, feet swinging to distract from the way the chill in the air was beginning to leave goosebumps against her skin. she was well aware that their talk wouldn’t be able to last much longer–––– it was getting late & she’d have to go home soon to ensure she was back before her dad woke up, but she wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

     ❛ & what are you gonna do then? when you’ve made it? ❜

     tifa could admit that she was a little afraid to ask the question. cloud announcing his departure was the latest in a long list of changes. the kids she’d grown up with were vanishing before her very eyes, & she wasn’t quite sure what she was meant to do about it. she knew exactly what she wanted to hear, that she would get to see him again someday ( aside from when she found herself trapped or in trouble ), but she also couldn’t blame him if that wasn’t what his future had in store.

    ❛ get a nice, big house in midgar? or is there somewhere else in the big, wide world you want to go? ❜

    there was so much to see outside of nibelheim, tifa wouldn’t have been surprised if he said he wanted to see them all. with a goal like that, there wouldn’t be any time to come back, even if he wanted.