30_fantasies [.x] (RudexTifa)
Title: It Depends...
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Subject: Rude/Tifa Lockheart
Theme(s): 23) Experience
Disclaimer: Don't own Tifa or Rude, or the Final Fantasy VII stuff. All belongs to Square. Just writing stuff 'cause I love me some fandom.
Note: Post-Meteor
So it was a year after Meteor; they were all together for a little get together - Yuffie, Barret, Cloud, Cid, Vincent, Red XIII, Reeve (with Cait with him), and even Cloud - were all in the new Seventh Heaven. The only person they were missing was Aerith.
The poor flower girl.
They all missed her, they wore ribbons about their arm to keep her memory living strong in their hearts -- you’ll never be forgotten she would often whisper to the still night air.
But now they were gone, doing their own thing after that night. It was morning and the only person who had stayed around was Barret. Said it was because he wanted to be with Marlene more, let the little girl have a father figure still. Always thanked her for being there, hugging the younger woman and telling her how much it meant to him that she would still even think about taking care of his little girl.
And she would always laugh at him and tell him it was no trouble. She loved the little girl almost as if she were her very own flesh and blood daughter (she felt it, oddly enough) and told him no matter what he decided that she would always take care of Marlene.
She swore he must have nearly cried, because she could see tears in his eyes.
Barret had never cried in front of her before…
It was a week now since Barret had left to Corel, leaving Marlene in the woman’s care and she would put on her strong front for the child. Marlene had cried herself to sleep the night he left, came crawling to Tifa’s room and snuggled in the older woman’s arms. Tifa had sung her a lullaby her mother used to sing, whispering soft and calming words to the girl -- I’ll be there, Marlene. Don’t worry. -- and the little girl smiled within her sleep to those sweet whispers.
The week after Rude - that silent Turk, the one who was always with the loud mouth red-head and slightly ditzy blonde girl - had come into her little bar, ordered a drink. And as much as she didn’t like ShinRa or anyone that had to do with them she did her job, played hostess, got him his drink. He was a paying customer and it was like hell she would kick him out; let him have what he wanted and leave when he wanted…well, as long as it was before closing times.
But he hadn’t left before closing time and she noticed and it made her sigh heavily.
“Don’t you have people to kill?”
He looked up, eyed her through those dark sunglasses he always wore - did he wear them all the time? She wondered quietly - and noted the annoyance in her voice and eyes. Figured. This was the woman who had an undying and burning passion against ShinRa, after all.
The woman he had been finding himself falling for.
The woman he would never tell his feelings for.
“Day off,” he calmly replied and heard her bark of bitter amused laughter.
“So even killers get a day off, huh? Lucky you.”
He really wished she wouldn’t be so cold, so bitter. That behavior didn’t suit her… He liked it better when he saw her smiling or laughing. But she seemed to smile only when that Strife boy was around.
…he sometimes envied Strife.
Sometimes.
But not now, not anymore. Not since they have learnt of the Ancient’s death and had seen just how bad-off the blond haired kid had been. Seen the pain in the other woman’s eyes as she wished so bad to be the pillar Aerith had been.
She figured out she couldn’t.
Maybe that was why she was so distant now (not that she had been close to him before…)
“Wouldn’t say that, Lockheart.” Their gazes locked and her front faded; she had been faking the cold act with him and her head shook slowly. “Not lucky at all.”
“More lucky than me.”
“…” He wouldn’t say that, either. At least she had the freedom of choosing what to do with her life. He didn’t. He worked for ShinRa, they basically gave him or his fellow workers not much freedom. An occasional break now and then, a short vacation even, but ShinRa - The fuck we still workin’ here for, anyway? Reno had asked once, then got smacked upside the head by Elena who promptly said, Because we have Rufus, you idiot! He’s still our boss…right? - seemed to not give them much of a break.
But ShinRa was sort of broken up.
But he was still a Turk, Elena and Reno and Tseng were still Turks, and they were bound to their job until it was an official disbandment of their little group. And there had yet to be made official.
But when she came to stand before him, across from that bar counter, he almost wondered if he was seeing things. Maybe it was his wishful thinking, but he could have sworn she was looking at him with a thoughtful gaze with mixed adoration in her eyes. Maybe something like…
“…you’re always wearing those, aren’t you?”
“What?” He raised a hand and set his fingers to the rim of the glasses. “These?”
“Yeah, those. Everytime we ran into you or the others you were always wearing those.” She almost sounded amused; a smile was on her lips. She almost found this funny. “So, do you always wear those or do you take them off?”
“…depends.”
“Ah?” He watched her head tilt a bit, those big eyes widening and her brows rising. He really did like her eyes and the expressiveness in them. “What do you mean ‘depends’? Depends on what?”
“Depends on why I have to take them off.” And Rude rarely, if ever, took off his glasses. They were part of who he was, his character, and it would be a damn long time to get bribed to even remove them. No one really saw him without them off.
Though there was that one time he had taken them off to get rid of a smudge. Reno nearly had a heart attack at the sight.
It was funny a few days later.
“What if people just want you to take them off? You know, like… Because the person has never been able to see your eyes before and sh---they want to know what your eyes look like?”
Heh, she had almost slipped on that one. Cute. But that had been a rather good save, especially since her expression had remained the same one that entire time.
She was good at that sort of stuff, he thought.
“I’d have to say no.” And then she pouted at his words and he did his best not to grin or smirk at her, though one side of his lips quirked into an amused grin. The pout almost made him think of taking off those glasses but he decided against it.
If he took them off he was afraid of what she might see - emotions, feelings, things he had been hiding away for awhile now, things he never wanted her to see until he knew she might feel that way back.
“Please?” She asked softly, her eyes downcast.
She really wanted to see what his eyes looked like. It was a weird thing, but she was just really curious about it.
Never had gotten to see them before and if it was only once then…that would be okay.
“…”
“Come on, Rude,” she whispered and raised her eyes to his face, studying those sunglasses. “It won’t hurt to take them off for just a minute, will it?”
Yes, it would. He thought and bowed his head away from her gaze. At that moment he was wishing that, maybe, it was a bad idea in the first place to have come here without Reno; on a deeper thought of that it was decided that it was a good idea to have come without Reno, it was just a bad idea to have even gone to the bar.
There was a sound of her body shifting weight from one leg to the other and the rustle of her clothing when she leaned forward, a bit over the counter, and raised her hand and outstretched her arms to pinch either side of the glasses with her fingers and start to pull them away. Maybe it was the surprise that made him dull in his movements to stop her from even touching them but he was a bit slow on the draw and found himself reaching up too slow, too late. Tifa had taken them off with such ease and grace that it felt…well, he had no idea what it felt like, but seeing the woman he had feelings for holding the glasses he was so used to wearing all the time?
Awkward.
Awkward but nice.
Nice because it was Tifa who had taken them off and was holding them in her hands, between her fingers. Had it been anyone else… he probably wouldn’t have been at all too kind at them even trying to remove those.
“See?” She murmured, setting them to the counter side aside from them and bent down. Elbows on the counter, hand moving to cup his cheeks Tifa just felt her head tilt a little. “You look good without them on, attractive.”
“…I wasn’t with them on?”
“I…I didn’t say that!” Tifa’s face started to flush and she watched him as he actually did a full grin of amusement, her cheeks on burning more and she made a small grumbling noise from the back of her throat. “I really…You are an attractive guy, with or without them. That much I can tell you.”
And he grinned a bit more; hearing the woman who he had been ordered to follow around and even kill call him attractive? It was…an ego boost of the sorts, but it also sort of made that look he had been trying to keep hidden in eyes to grow a bit.
And if she saw that look then she was doing her best to act like she hadn’t, keep up the façade that he was still her enemy - but an enemy that she could trust in a way now - and that there was no way that he could have any sort of feelings for her. Ha ha, such a silly thought that was!
But when their eyes actually full-met her heart skipped a whole beat and her eyes widened in slight surprise. She always heard the saying that the eyes were the window to the soul, and the window to seeing any or all emotion that someone was feeling. In Leviathan’s name she was able to see the adoration he had for her there, the calm he always had, and the…
…oh, oh sweet merciful lord.
He saw the expression on her face and immediately reached for his glasses to put back on, but she stopped him by reaching out and pinning his wrist to the bar. She wasn’t going to let him hide it. No, not anymore.
“Rude,” she chided softly, as if she was almost being like a mother wanting to somehow coax a secret or something important from a child. But he was not at all a child, so treating him like one would be out of the question…it was so much easier to do this when it was Cloud.
Even if Cloud still did keep secrets and other things from her.
But Rude wasn’t Cloud. She couldn’t treat him in the way she usually treated the blond man. This was Rude, a member of the Turks and a man who could, if prompted, take her down in a fight. She wouldn’t know. He never had tried to make any form of attack on her whenever they had fought so…
And with a light sigh she smiled a bit. “I’m not worth it.”
Oh, but she was; even if she thought she wasn’t and was telling him she wasn’t, giving him that apologetic smile and sad eyes she always seemed to give, he damn well knew she was worth it.
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Subject: Rude/Tifa Lockheart
Theme(s): 23) Experience
Disclaimer: Don't own Tifa or Rude, or the Final Fantasy VII stuff. All belongs to Square. Just writing stuff 'cause I love me some fandom.
Note: Post-Meteor
So it was a year after Meteor; they were all together for a little get together - Yuffie, Barret, Cloud, Cid, Vincent, Red XIII, Reeve (with Cait with him), and even Cloud - were all in the new Seventh Heaven. The only person they were missing was Aerith.
The poor flower girl.
They all missed her, they wore ribbons about their arm to keep her memory living strong in their hearts -- you’ll never be forgotten she would often whisper to the still night air.
But now they were gone, doing their own thing after that night. It was morning and the only person who had stayed around was Barret. Said it was because he wanted to be with Marlene more, let the little girl have a father figure still. Always thanked her for being there, hugging the younger woman and telling her how much it meant to him that she would still even think about taking care of his little girl.
And she would always laugh at him and tell him it was no trouble. She loved the little girl almost as if she were her very own flesh and blood daughter (she felt it, oddly enough) and told him no matter what he decided that she would always take care of Marlene.
She swore he must have nearly cried, because she could see tears in his eyes.
Barret had never cried in front of her before…
It was a week now since Barret had left to Corel, leaving Marlene in the woman’s care and she would put on her strong front for the child. Marlene had cried herself to sleep the night he left, came crawling to Tifa’s room and snuggled in the older woman’s arms. Tifa had sung her a lullaby her mother used to sing, whispering soft and calming words to the girl -- I’ll be there, Marlene. Don’t worry. -- and the little girl smiled within her sleep to those sweet whispers.
The week after Rude - that silent Turk, the one who was always with the loud mouth red-head and slightly ditzy blonde girl - had come into her little bar, ordered a drink. And as much as she didn’t like ShinRa or anyone that had to do with them she did her job, played hostess, got him his drink. He was a paying customer and it was like hell she would kick him out; let him have what he wanted and leave when he wanted…well, as long as it was before closing times.
But he hadn’t left before closing time and she noticed and it made her sigh heavily.
“Don’t you have people to kill?”
He looked up, eyed her through those dark sunglasses he always wore - did he wear them all the time? She wondered quietly - and noted the annoyance in her voice and eyes. Figured. This was the woman who had an undying and burning passion against ShinRa, after all.
The woman he had been finding himself falling for.
The woman he would never tell his feelings for.
“Day off,” he calmly replied and heard her bark of bitter amused laughter.
“So even killers get a day off, huh? Lucky you.”
He really wished she wouldn’t be so cold, so bitter. That behavior didn’t suit her… He liked it better when he saw her smiling or laughing. But she seemed to smile only when that Strife boy was around.
…he sometimes envied Strife.
Sometimes.
But not now, not anymore. Not since they have learnt of the Ancient’s death and had seen just how bad-off the blond haired kid had been. Seen the pain in the other woman’s eyes as she wished so bad to be the pillar Aerith had been.
She figured out she couldn’t.
Maybe that was why she was so distant now (not that she had been close to him before…)
“Wouldn’t say that, Lockheart.” Their gazes locked and her front faded; she had been faking the cold act with him and her head shook slowly. “Not lucky at all.”
“More lucky than me.”
“…” He wouldn’t say that, either. At least she had the freedom of choosing what to do with her life. He didn’t. He worked for ShinRa, they basically gave him or his fellow workers not much freedom. An occasional break now and then, a short vacation even, but ShinRa - The fuck we still workin’ here for, anyway? Reno had asked once, then got smacked upside the head by Elena who promptly said, Because we have Rufus, you idiot! He’s still our boss…right? - seemed to not give them much of a break.
But ShinRa was sort of broken up.
But he was still a Turk, Elena and Reno and Tseng were still Turks, and they were bound to their job until it was an official disbandment of their little group. And there had yet to be made official.
But when she came to stand before him, across from that bar counter, he almost wondered if he was seeing things. Maybe it was his wishful thinking, but he could have sworn she was looking at him with a thoughtful gaze with mixed adoration in her eyes. Maybe something like…
“…you’re always wearing those, aren’t you?”
“What?” He raised a hand and set his fingers to the rim of the glasses. “These?”
“Yeah, those. Everytime we ran into you or the others you were always wearing those.” She almost sounded amused; a smile was on her lips. She almost found this funny. “So, do you always wear those or do you take them off?”
“…depends.”
“Ah?” He watched her head tilt a bit, those big eyes widening and her brows rising. He really did like her eyes and the expressiveness in them. “What do you mean ‘depends’? Depends on what?”
“Depends on why I have to take them off.” And Rude rarely, if ever, took off his glasses. They were part of who he was, his character, and it would be a damn long time to get bribed to even remove them. No one really saw him without them off.
Though there was that one time he had taken them off to get rid of a smudge. Reno nearly had a heart attack at the sight.
It was funny a few days later.
“What if people just want you to take them off? You know, like… Because the person has never been able to see your eyes before and sh---they want to know what your eyes look like?”
Heh, she had almost slipped on that one. Cute. But that had been a rather good save, especially since her expression had remained the same one that entire time.
She was good at that sort of stuff, he thought.
“I’d have to say no.” And then she pouted at his words and he did his best not to grin or smirk at her, though one side of his lips quirked into an amused grin. The pout almost made him think of taking off those glasses but he decided against it.
If he took them off he was afraid of what she might see - emotions, feelings, things he had been hiding away for awhile now, things he never wanted her to see until he knew she might feel that way back.
“Please?” She asked softly, her eyes downcast.
She really wanted to see what his eyes looked like. It was a weird thing, but she was just really curious about it.
Never had gotten to see them before and if it was only once then…that would be okay.
“…”
“Come on, Rude,” she whispered and raised her eyes to his face, studying those sunglasses. “It won’t hurt to take them off for just a minute, will it?”
Yes, it would. He thought and bowed his head away from her gaze. At that moment he was wishing that, maybe, it was a bad idea in the first place to have come here without Reno; on a deeper thought of that it was decided that it was a good idea to have come without Reno, it was just a bad idea to have even gone to the bar.
There was a sound of her body shifting weight from one leg to the other and the rustle of her clothing when she leaned forward, a bit over the counter, and raised her hand and outstretched her arms to pinch either side of the glasses with her fingers and start to pull them away. Maybe it was the surprise that made him dull in his movements to stop her from even touching them but he was a bit slow on the draw and found himself reaching up too slow, too late. Tifa had taken them off with such ease and grace that it felt…well, he had no idea what it felt like, but seeing the woman he had feelings for holding the glasses he was so used to wearing all the time?
Awkward.
Awkward but nice.
Nice because it was Tifa who had taken them off and was holding them in her hands, between her fingers. Had it been anyone else… he probably wouldn’t have been at all too kind at them even trying to remove those.
“See?” She murmured, setting them to the counter side aside from them and bent down. Elbows on the counter, hand moving to cup his cheeks Tifa just felt her head tilt a little. “You look good without them on, attractive.”
“…I wasn’t with them on?”
“I…I didn’t say that!” Tifa’s face started to flush and she watched him as he actually did a full grin of amusement, her cheeks on burning more and she made a small grumbling noise from the back of her throat. “I really…You are an attractive guy, with or without them. That much I can tell you.”
And he grinned a bit more; hearing the woman who he had been ordered to follow around and even kill call him attractive? It was…an ego boost of the sorts, but it also sort of made that look he had been trying to keep hidden in eyes to grow a bit.
And if she saw that look then she was doing her best to act like she hadn’t, keep up the façade that he was still her enemy - but an enemy that she could trust in a way now - and that there was no way that he could have any sort of feelings for her. Ha ha, such a silly thought that was!
But when their eyes actually full-met her heart skipped a whole beat and her eyes widened in slight surprise. She always heard the saying that the eyes were the window to the soul, and the window to seeing any or all emotion that someone was feeling. In Leviathan’s name she was able to see the adoration he had for her there, the calm he always had, and the…
…oh, oh sweet merciful lord.
He saw the expression on her face and immediately reached for his glasses to put back on, but she stopped him by reaching out and pinning his wrist to the bar. She wasn’t going to let him hide it. No, not anymore.
“Rude,” she chided softly, as if she was almost being like a mother wanting to somehow coax a secret or something important from a child. But he was not at all a child, so treating him like one would be out of the question…it was so much easier to do this when it was Cloud.
Even if Cloud still did keep secrets and other things from her.
But Rude wasn’t Cloud. She couldn’t treat him in the way she usually treated the blond man. This was Rude, a member of the Turks and a man who could, if prompted, take her down in a fight. She wouldn’t know. He never had tried to make any form of attack on her whenever they had fought so…
And with a light sigh she smiled a bit. “I’m not worth it.”
Oh, but she was; even if she thought she wasn’t and was telling him she wasn’t, giving him that apologetic smile and sad eyes she always seemed to give, he damn well knew she was worth it.