starshower | 🌠 escordvi inbox.

It really is.

[With a cold bottle of beer in hand, she comes around the counter to join Sumina, taking a seat on the stool next to hers. She doesn't want to be interrupted if she's standing behind the bar.]

Well, when you've got a crew of really eager doers who all wanna be really hands-on, it becomes a little easier. [A pause, and she takes a small swig of her beer.] I meant to ask, did you manage to find yourself a crew since I last saw you?

[ The question about a crew draws a long, thoughtful hum from Sumina. She honestly hadn't thought about it at all, given how much of this is such an adjustment for her to begin with. Even so, she would be perfectly happy continuing on with the crew of the Stormbringer, even if she's absolutely Just A Little Guy amongst the veteran corsairs and whatnot. Perhaps they've even taken to thinking of her like their strange, sweet niece or some such... ]

I... have yet to find a different crew. Those aboard the Stormbringer strangely remind me of home, if I'm honest, our inn being what it is. The captain is just as fierce as many of my more... adventurous relatives. It's quite lively.

[ However, and it's a big one, added as she offers a resigned sigh against the rim of her wine glass. ]

Satoru would probably want to go his own way with a crew of his own choosing, however...

[ Maybe once he's done picking fights with every shonen protagonist and/or teenager in this game. ]

[Tifa has heard the stories about the Stormbringer's captain, and has met the Royal Fortune's at least once, so she can safely say that she agrees with those sentiments. Adventurous would certainly be the word, if the things she's heard bear any truth to them.

The name that Sumina mentions, though, is an unfamiliar one to her, and she takes another small sip of her beer and tilts her head.]

Satoru? He a friend or family?

[The only reason she asks that is because it sounds like a conditional—something that Sumina is taking into heavy consideration for her own future.]

[ She is taking him into heavy consideration for her own future, and at Tifa's question, she blinks for a moment, like she's never been asked this.

...Has she ever been asked to actually describe their relationship out loud, before...? Usually, the fact just seems to surface itself without need for explanation, especially if Satoru himself is present. He's rather outspoken, after all... ]

He's... no, he's...

[ She's definitely starting to blush. ]

[ No, she's definitely starting to blush a lot. ]

Satoru is, ah... My lover...

[Tifa can already tell what he is before Sumina can even say it. It doesn't take much to read the flush in her cheeks, or the way she stammers with her answer, and she can't help but bite back a smile that she hides in a drink. Funnily enough, Sumina blushing also causes Tifa's cheeks to bloom with colour for asking.]

Ah. Well then, I guess it is pretty important that you stick with him.

[That answers that.

She really can't help herself, and she doesn't mean to tease, but—]

That mean he'll be your captain, too?

[There might be the faintest glimmer of amusement in her eyes.]

[ Absolutely nobody in this game is prepared for Gojo to become a captain and worse, having others call him captain, both Sumina and I are praying for everyone's continued sanity.

...But, yes. Tifa is right about that, on both counts... ]

Y..Yes, I suppose so!

[ Ahh, she's being teased. ]

We met at the hotel I mentioned to you before, and arrived here together. We were... incredibly fortunate, that it turned out this way, ahaha...

Wait.

[Tifa nearly chokes on her sip of beer before she sets the bottle down, staring at Sumina with no shortage of shock.]

You met in another world, and then came here and... remembered each other? That's so...

[Romantic!?]

( ooc: i'm on hiatus this month, but feel free to let this go if it's too old ♥ )

[ There is a momentary display of concern over Tifa as she nearly chokes on her drink, but Sumina slips right back into a deep sheepishness at her following comment. She's redder than her pink hair, all the way to the very tips of her pointed ears... ]

That's... that's right! I-It's quite— [ yeah, romantic ] Unbelievable when put into those terms, isn't it? Ahaha... ha...

H-He's always been quite a handful, and I fear arriving here has only awakened an even more chaotic sense of mischief and misadventure, b-but still— [ help. she's yapping!? ] I know we'll stay true to one another...!

[ Practically wheezing after all that, Sumina lifts her glass to her mouth and drinks, with urgency. ]

[Tifa can't help but giggle—not at Sumina, but just at how cute it is that they have still managed to find each other again in this world after being in another one. She's a bit of a hopeless romantic herself, so her own cheeks flush a bit at the thought. Don't worry Sumina, she won't judge.]

Honestly? I think it's sweet.

[Maybe not so much the chaotic part, but Tifa's never met him before, so who's to say?]

Almost makes me wish I had something like that, too.

[ Tifa does seem to just have one of those dazzling personalities that makes one want to simply befriend her, such a talent for making someone feel so comfortable and safe and familiar even for the short time that they've known each other. They're some of Sumina's favorite kind people to surround herself with...

She's also rather eager to not have this entire conversation revolve around her relationship and wants to get to know Tifa more, so given the opportunity, she quickly pivots. ]

Ah, I'm certain you'll find it for yourself, too, Tifa. You're so very lovely! In fact, I would be shocked if you didn't already have a few admirers... even if you might not know of them just yet.

Really?

[She doesn't mean to sound so surprised or interested in that, and realizing just how much she had, she draws it back, a hand fidgeting with a lock of hair.]

I don't know... With the bar and making sure the whole crew stays out of trouble, I'm not sure I would even have the time for something like that. I'm sure you know what that can be like sometimes, running an inn. When life keeps you busy...

[ Well, that does strike a chord with Sumina, remembering all too well how she'd always written the possibility of something like a relationship off when it felt like she was simply too busy to even think about it, when being an innkeeper was all she could think to be, on top of being a daughter, a sister, a friend. She couldn't fathom being someone's lover, as well, until her stay at the hotel had decisively taken her away from her role. It was only then that she was able to begin learning who she was outside of her work...

So she levels a look most understanding and sympathetic at Tifa, her expression softening. ]

I understand the feeling, truly. There's already so much to do, you can't fathom how someone special might slot into your life. Honestly, if not for the fact that I'd stepped away to stay at the hotel, I... Ahaha, I truly might have ended up an old maid.

Of course, I don't find myself quite as busy as you are, these days, but what I do believe is that... When the right person comes along, it won't so much feel like having to make space or time for them. It feels like... they fit right into your days, into your life, like they were always meant to be there.

[ ... She looks back down to her glass of wine. She's so embarrassed... ]

[There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Tifa thinks the sentiment is sweet, and she listens so very carefully to what Sumina has to say, as if she is telling her one of the world's greatest secrets or solving its mysteries. She always did feel a bit silly, even bothering to think about it, always so tied to her responsibilities that she would scold herself for getting so distracted by mere thoughts and daydreams, but maybe she's right.

Maybe... the right person will just fit...]

... Is that how you felt with Gojo when he came in?

[She's really not trying to embarrass Sumina, but... she might be trying to figure out her own feelings at the moment. Complicated, messy ones.

That, and she's a quiet, secret sucker for romance.]

[ She can tell that Tifa's questioning comes from a place of sincerity, of curiosity that may be driven by a wish for some kind of clarity about oneself, and... Well, she can't be upset about that, and for her own part she would... really like to move away from her old tendencies to never speak much of her own life. She'd like to make friends. To be a friend - and that starts by sharing, being a little vulnerable at times.

...Though she does have to chuckle, at first. ]

Goodness... no! If anything, he felt quite unnatural, at first. Always butting into my life every chance he would get, but you know... At the time, it's what I needed. I needed to be disrupted like that, to grow out of the comfort I'd found in loneliness. And now...

[ A fond smile peeks through even her bashfulness. ]

Now, it feels like he was missing, when I look back on what my life was like before...

That sounds really nice...

[Her voice takes on a more whimsical note to it, and for a moment, it looks as if her eyes drift off elsewhere with her thoughts once Sumina is finished.]

I guess... you won't really know until you try, huh? Harder to realize what you're missing when you don't know what that is...

[There's a brief, pensive pause as Tifa smiles to herself.]

You should bring him by Seventh Heaven sometime. I'd love to meet the guy who managed to woo you.

🌠 escordvi inbox.

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for the delay sweet sheila!!

💜💜

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject