[ It would be hard to pinpoint exactly when it had struck her, fully. There's always a playfulness between the two of them and Aerith indulges in it earnestly, though never completely, and when her gaze roves over to look up at him with curiosity and a twinkling of something more in it, she still can't quite say when it all started. It'd be easy to say it was the night the rain started, but there was always some kind of magnetic pull between the two of them. (She knows what it is, but doesn't say. She loses the thought to the music, it's drowned out by the chorus: I wanna ruin our friendship.)
So the story goes like this: The lights flash over them like a spotlight and she feels like she's getting wrapped up in the atmosphere of a festival, tight and snug. It's brand new to her, the experience wholly unique, and there's Cloud at her side like the lighthouse in the fog. For all the newness, for all the excitement of the world around them, he's there, a constant, ebbing presence in her mind, never quite receding. A comfort, despite it all. The pinks and purples of the lightshow bleed shades of blue across his face, like his eyes and yet unlike his eyes— mako pollution doing all the work and none of the gratitude. The crowd is an after-thought as she has a moment of wonder: Out of everything in the known universe, they've ended up together, right here and now.
She breathes. Takes in the scent of fried food and sweat and alcohol, a sweet and sticky sort of smell that is already churning nostalgic in her mind. Aerith purses her lips, takes in another breath, and then turns away to hide the the way her body is going flush and hot under his stare. ]
Let's go. Shouldn't keep the dance floor waiting!
[ She needs to work this out like this, she thinks, and leads him through the crowd whether he wants to or not. By the time she turns back to him, they're on a cleared out section of the festival path, where a hardened floor has been rolled out for ease of the patrons. Overheard, lights strobe and roll all around— it's a disco, with the stereo blasting. She holds out her hands under the disco ball, smiling like nothing's eating her alive. ]
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So the story goes like this: The lights flash over them like a spotlight and she feels like she's getting wrapped up in the atmosphere of a festival, tight and snug. It's brand new to her, the experience wholly unique, and there's Cloud at her side like the lighthouse in the fog. For all the newness, for all the excitement of the world around them, he's there, a constant, ebbing presence in her mind, never quite receding. A comfort, despite it all. The pinks and purples of the lightshow bleed shades of blue across his face, like his eyes and yet unlike his eyes— mako pollution doing all the work and none of the gratitude. The crowd is an after-thought as she has a moment of wonder: Out of everything in the known universe, they've ended up together, right here and now.
She breathes. Takes in the scent of fried food and sweat and alcohol, a sweet and sticky sort of smell that is already churning nostalgic in her mind. Aerith purses her lips, takes in another breath, and then turns away to hide the the way her body is going flush and hot under his stare. ]
Let's go. Shouldn't keep the dance floor waiting!
[ She needs to work this out like this, she thinks, and leads him through the crowd whether he wants to or not. By the time she turns back to him, they're on a cleared out section of the festival path, where a hardened floor has been rolled out for ease of the patrons. Overheard, lights strobe and roll all around— it's a disco, with the stereo blasting. She holds out her hands under the disco ball, smiling like nothing's eating her alive. ]
Oh, Cloud, it's amazing!