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🌳 trahearne ([personal profile] pactmarshal) wrote2022-03-07 03:53 pm
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everblooms: (ꕥ summer is all in bloom.)

[personal profile] everblooms 2022-09-22 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It’s an odd thing to say, she knows. It’s not like most people just come out with it, but Aerith’s not like other people. She has no reason to be. The world has built her up in certain ways, the people of Gaia holding her to strange ultimatums and ideas, and it’s all Aerith has to be herself in the face of everything else. When Trahearne asks what she means, then, she thinks of her mother and Elmyra, and she thinks of Cloud and Tifa, and she thinks of all the people she’s met in the world who lost everything and had to rebuild it. The trust you find in others, pockets of forgiveness and togetherness, a wholly new experience that keeps you sane— that’s what she’s considering when she looks at him, doe-eyed, amused, and a tiny bit confused. ]

When you worry about somebody, it’s an act of care. You choose to do it. Don’t you think… people should be choosing to care about you, too?

[ Not that she’d ever say it, but there’s something about him that at once makes her feel at ease and a little bit uncomfortable. Trahearne is, you see, the closest thing to another Cetra she thinks she might ever meet. Ori may have powers like her own, but there’s something about Trahearne’s origins that sticks to Aerith like honey sticks to toast, or the same way cream melts into coffee.

It makes her think of the tired woman who carried her away from her mother’s body, who took her home and made her feel cared about. ]


Sometimes, we just have to accept it. That we’re cared about, even if it’s not always the ways we want to be cared about. You can’t do every tiny bit on your own.
everblooms: (ꕥ i know words won't be enough.)

[personal profile] everblooms 2022-09-23 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It’s impossible to not be charmed by him in some way. Maybe it’s the idea that she has to forgive him for something that simple— it’s not going to inconvenience her one bit if he’s a bit difficult about letting her fuss over him from time to time. It’s himself he needs to apologize to, for not finding the part of himself to unlock and let that in sooner. In some ways, Aerith muses, he must be his own worst enemy. When she looks up at Trahearne to stare at his golden eyes, she thinks he looks like he’s wrestling with a number of things now. Maybe she’s not really helped at the end of the day. Who is to say?

He doesn’t really have to say it. Too many people have wanted her to let them care for her in their lives— thank goodness, she thinks, that he’s more like the charmers in the slums and less like a hulking tower of a man that visits her in her nightmares. She may not know what it is that makes him this way, but she welcomes it in some respects; it makes him easier to tease, she thinks.

The fastest way to her heart, however, is food. Her gaze breaks from staring at him to look at the little chalkboard sign, leaning closer on the tips of her toes. She reads the scratchy white letters for barely more than a second before she gasps and grabs his hand, tightly, already pulling him in. ]
Trahearne, look! They have pumpkin drinks! That’s so incredible…

[ The slums never had the luxury of seasonal drinks. It tickles her a little, to think of commercials broadcast from the towers near the reactors, things that they’d never have, reminders of the city overhead that walked on them daily.

He doesn’t know it, yet, as it is, but he’s been taking care of her little by little. She remembers how boldly he says things like he wanted to see her fight something more powerful than a monkey, how he respects her as a warrior and… a friend, perhaps. She hopes. Too often is it that people coddle her. ]
everblooms: (ꕥ maybe i'm more clever.)

[personal profile] everblooms 2022-09-27 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Inside the shop, there is a cornucopia of choice for her to marvel at. It is overwhelming in some respects; being from the slums, she has never seen so much choice before. It’s usually a “to order” sort of situation at cafes and the like, with few exceptions. When she finally lets go of his hand, she’s leaning over to peer into the display case, green eyes sparkling like jewels. He hums a happy little tune then, as Aerith leans this way and that way. Marveling at the sweets without abandon, she barely cares about how silly it must look.

She’s terribly glad she mustered up the energy to get up and seek him out, specifically. When Trahearne’s voice interrupts her thoughts, she looks up at him, tilts her head, and registers what he’s saying a moment later before standing up right, beaming again. This is a cause for very serious consideration. ]


Two cups of chicken noodle soup, please!

[ He doesn’t get a choice— in truth, it’s not her mother’s soup, but a cup of something warm and relaxing with a friend is just as important and lovely to her. She’s not had the chance before, and making up for it sounds delightful. ]
everblooms: (ꕥ there must be some mistake.)

[personal profile] everblooms 2022-09-29 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There’s something about what he says— the implication that her presence is better than the absence of it, that gets to her. Aerith stares for a moment, hunched over to stare into the display again, with her hands on her knees. Silently, she just looks at him, and thinks about being alone in the trainyard; that moment is what kept her from falling deeper into a deathly slumber, she thinks to herself, and when she stands straight again, there’s a tiny, warm smile on her face.

Without another word, she closes the distance between them, only to land a very familiar, very careful playful smack upon his arm, without the intention of him. ]
And here I thought I was coming to cheer you up!

[ It’s the most she says about her own state, beaming the whole long way, before moving to pass him. The seats outside are too tempting, and she’s not going to stand still and wait. She never has. ]

Oh, and…

[ Stopping at the now open door, Aerith looks to Trahearne over her shoulder, her smile far more mischievous now than it had been. She didn’t tell him how she knew, though part of her thinks he had just been brushing aside how stubborn she is. Her mother had thought of her as such, at least. ]

I have my ways.

[ Of just knowing.

With that, she walks out into the sunlight again, arranging a table for them eagerly. There’s three chairs; one next to her, and one across. Does he take the bait? Hmm. ]
everblooms: (ꕥ in my heart it's the five of us.)

[personal profile] everblooms 2022-10-05 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to make it up to me.

[ When he leaves the shop, coming back to her with their food and drinks, Aerith is sitting with her elbows on the table, feet swinging back and forth. It isn’t as if she couldn’t put the heavy soles of her boots onto the ground if she wanted, but it does stop as he unloads. Placing the basket between them catches her attention and she not so subtly looks from it to him, brows furrowing in what probably looks like a silly display. There’s only a moment of deliberation before she picks it up, and swaps seats with the basket so that they’re next to one another. Ahem. This isn’t an interview, Trahearne.

She doesn’t wait long to tuck in, though she steals a few glances to look at him, measuring his reaction before she speaks again. This isn’t the first time she’s had to close the gap between herself and someone else, but if he tries to move… ]


So, Trahearne.

[ Spoon in hand, she fusses with the broth, stirring it for a moment more… ]

Are you… actually alright?