#falstrife

𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝔃𝓮 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓹 , a chaste bite whilst a cheeky grin begins to appear . she bumps a hip into his , gently brushing past whilst she turns 'pon heel to face him . a creepy crawl of her fingers gesture toward him as if a monster was about to grab him ' of course , i can't do that . . . ' she playfully teases , now reaching for her staff and twirling it to her front . ' monsters instinctively target weaker prey , yunno . ' the slight jeer comes with a tongue poked out in his direction ( using his own words against him ) ' better stand back . '

she chuckles just prior to twirling ahead , a couple of enemies just down the way . . . they won't even know what's about to hit 'em ! // @falstrife

no . . .

she needed the time to cool . despite her brightness ; and a heart she gave in kindness . . . she was a storm . it was never instant , the calm just before was always quiet . but their argument was no one's fault , simply the result of her own insecurities .

back then it was plainly in jest ; lightheartedly asking him to be her bodyguard ( and he was great , flawless even . . . ) he never stepped down from getting her home 𝓼 𝓪 𝓯 𝓮 . however , she wasn't a damsel . . . she never wanted to be . in all the kind ways she could , she thought she made it clear . he didn't need to worry . . .

her response is silent at first . . . feeling the weight of sullen bright mako eyes whilst he stood there behind her . shifting slowly , her shoulders shrug heavily whilst the maiden peeks ever so cautiously over her own figure . ' cloud . . . i-- ' her voice is soft-- a slight hint of shame whilst she notice his gaze drifting from her own . his subtle reaction quickly brings aerith to rise up to her feet .

a sharp breath lightly comes from cloud's chest , aerith had hurriedly bumped into his form embracing him closely . . . ' i'm sorry . . . ' she whispers , leaning her cheek to rest against his shoulder for a moment whilst the words flood to her rosy lips . ' i'm sorry i didn't consider your feelings too . . . ' gentle fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt , she had never meant to invalidate how he felt or what he feels . as much as his overprotectiveness could be irritating , it was genuinely warming to have someone care so much . . . at the cost of shinra , they have both 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 .

her weight pulls away slightly , doe eyes glisten whilst searching his . the parts of cloud that are strong and resilient give her hope , admiring his inner strength . but . . . where ever he has doubt , or weakness , she wants to support him . they both can be there for each other . . . ' i'm here for you . don't tell me to stay away when it looks bad . . . '

' i believe in you , cloud . '

// @falstrife

seeing that all her gloating has put a sour frown 'pon his mien ; aerith briskly moves in closer with a new lilt in her tone . from rubbing her many wins in his face , she now 𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓴𝓼 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓮𝓴 ; softly consoling him with words . . .

' awh , cloud . . . ' gently nudging with her nose , another kiss pecks his lips and boops his nose ; her arms wrapping around him lightly . . . ' you were a really good challenger . . . ' maybe she can 𝓼𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓵𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓷 𝓱𝓲𝓶 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 whilst her fingers daintily brush the nape of his neck / so what if she was a little more experienced with playing games , they both had the same disadvantage since neither had played this console at gold saucer before .

' you almost had me there a couple of times ! ' she almost whispered it . . . hands sliding down the front of his shoulders , she couldn't help teasing him one more time before giving up completely . . . ' . . . and then i 𝓴𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓾𝓽𝓽 . . . ! ' she gave a playful bite 'pon his ear whilst weighing into him ; aerith couldn't help but snicker, enjoying every second of date night . // @falstrife

there in the dim lighting 𝓪 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝓭𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓽𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓴𝓵𝓮 'pon the pale of her cheek . nearly dried , her tears stain soft skin beneath the moonlight trickling through the crack in the curtains . . . prickled by the discomfort of her vulnerability , she nervously chuckled in embarrassment . a way she seeks for a sign that it was okay to cry .

𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓪𝓲𝓻 cling delicately to her mien , she eases into scooting a little closer though reacts quick to swipe a hand toward an eye to dry against her skin . she is stopped by a gentle gesture . . .

the sweep of his digits to affectionately brush aside her hair leave her 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓪𝓭𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓶 𝓽𝓸𝓾𝓬𝓱 . providing the maiden a comfort she hasn't felt before , a faint hiccup of air expels . . . and her head lazily lulls forward into that touch .

her tears could fall anew if they pleased , but instead his moniker is murmured in a sweet whisper ' cloud . . . '

the weight of her fears now unburdened , her hand catches light hold of his before he could call it away . she found it strange how exhausting it could be to cry like this . . . and completely unexpected how it happened . the silence is long but bearable and without word she tiredly moves closer .

currently . . . she is no longer paying attention to the voices that call to her . . . nor the planet , nor focused on their events ahead . shinra nor sephiroth no longer have precedence , the promised land even falling to the wayside . . . for a change , aerith has chosen not to shoulder these burdens alone .

𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓻𝓪𝔀𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓵𝔂 𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓹𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻 into the mercenary's lap is tiresome and weak , but she is content whilst lidded eyen slip closed and roseate lips press a fragile kiss to the corner of cloud's lips . . .

' . . . hold me . . . please . ' yearning for his comfort , aerith nuzzles against him comfortably ; 𝓪 𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓶𝓼 . // @falstrife

𝓲𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 . . . and she is guilty as charged to want a few more minutes . not quite the morning person , though for once she happened to be awake .

her verdant gaze was still shielded , tired eyen still resting whilst the sun creep higher . a complacent simper slowly bloomed 'pon roseate lips ; stifling a chuckle toward a groggy morning voice that 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓵𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓮𝓻 for disturbing his slumber .

a playful melody hums in response . . . well , before the verbal one that is .

' uh - huh . . . yes , i believe that's because i am indeed , breathing . ' yunno . . . the thing living bodies do , she's teasing and a breathy laughter finally bubbles up to the surface . her comedic skit soon follows with her 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓼 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓻 ; doe eyes still shut to feign sleeping . // @falsushiero

@falstrife​  said:

you won’t go with me?

Rapunzel’s eyes that usually glimmered in the sunlight seemed to dull at this question.     

It wasn’t that she didn’t WANT to continue her ‘adventure’ with Cloud, more so  -- she couldn’t.  

“My  ... Mother.”  A sharp exhale of breath left rosy lips at the mere thought of her.      “I’ve already been gone a few days....    I can’t imagine how worried she must be”  

 and furious, very furious --  but she’d leave that bit out.   

@falstrife​

said:

[ 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 ] My muse steps protectively in front of yours

“I swear I saw something look at me!” Rapunzel’s eyes widened in fear, rabbit like teeth biting down upon her bottom lip.    

  The grip on frying pan only tightened as she gawked in the direction of the supposed ‘Monster’   Which seemed to be hiding behind a large willow tree  ---  the graceful arching branches helped in obscuring their view.    

Could it be a RUFFIAN or perhaps a thug? Why was it hiding in this old forest?    

A sigh of relief left the sun maiden when Cloud stepped in front of her with that protective stance.   ---  though she could protect herself rather well ...   His sword was arguably more effective.   

Her trembling free hand latched onto the back of his shirt.   --   “Don’t get too close.  You might get hurt!”  That’s when the ‘creature’ took a few steps closer -- 

she had to hold back shriek  ...   --and then, ---- and THEN it came into view ...revealing itself to be -- 

A deer 

those eyes she saw shining through the viney-leaves ... belong to a deer?  Following this new found information  ...  the glossy haired blonde let out a LAUGH.