dreamcrystals | eight entry ⊗ bauble trip home

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eight entry ⊗ bauble trip home

Sender: Eustace
To: Everyone
Subject: Successful Use of Baubles to Return Home

For those who may not have noticed, recently the baubles used for the Wishing can be used to return to our home worlds and still be able to return. It was a risk, but given the prospect of this for the ongoing research of staying in this world permanently, I tried it myself.

It works.

I departed on the first of the month and according to Tifa, returned after three days here. As before, the time passed in my world was several months and as expected, I still did not retain any memories of my time in Songerein while in my world.

I had the researchers at the Observatory study the dreamotion energy during this process to see if they can learn more about our connection between this world and our world. If there are any who wish to try or plan to return to their home world through the use of the baubles, I would like to request if they could study your trip as well.

It does appear that the more common "random connections" is still occurring. Regardless, I hope this message eases some concerns others might have in wanting to temporarily revisit their world on their own will.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Correct. [His voice lowers a little with some heaviness.]

...It was exactly the same as before. I had no memory of anything of this world...of you.

[She laughs, though it's dry and quiet.]

Here I was hoping the baubles would've changed something...

[That's asking for far too much, though. And beyond bringing him back, she doesn't want to risk it and ask for more.]

How did you know that it was time to come back?

I didn't.

[Another heaviness in his tone as he nuzzles closer against her hair.]

I just fell asleep one night... And it was only then that I started dreaming bits and pieces of Songerein before I appeared by the well.

[Covered in glitter. Honestly there's probably still some on him despite his best attempts to get rid of it all—]

[She has noticed some of the glitter, but... that has been the last thing on her mind since he got back.]

So... there's really no way to control how long you're gone for, huh...?

[A pensive, thoughtful frown crosses her face as she leans back, keeping her gaze downcast at his chest as she turns that thought over in her head.]

Could be weeks, months... even years before those dreams come back...?

So far...yes.

[He gently strokes her back for a moment.]

But we can still try and change that. At the very least, we know the Well and the baubles help maintain some connection between both worlds, and I have the researchers studying how that connection works. We can ask others to volunteer and share their findings, too.

[There's a very poignant silence that follows...]

I could give it a try...

[She doesn't know what would happen, or what it would mean, but... it's been something that has been on her mind for a while now. A long time. It's been years since she's been home and if it would help with the research, then maybe...?

Though, there's no hiding the very real fear that edges her voice, soft and quiet as it is.]

Don't.

[The word escapes him before he even thinks about it, his grip tightening as a wave of dread ripples through him. That fear that if she comes back she...]

[She feels that word hit her, she feels it tighten around her heart, binding her here and to him, but still, she gazes up at him with both concern and curiosity.]

Don't...?

[Though, she understands... Those three days without him back then and even now when she knew he would return were not easy. She wouldn't wish it on anyone to miss their loved ones as much as she missed him, or to worry as much as she had, least of all Eustace.]

[He only stares down at her, his eyes swimming with conflicted emotions. Unlike her worries, he could handle the days with her...

...

It's when she comes back that he fears. Fears of what might change, of... How her feelings for him may change. But can he really tell her that? To imply he doesn't trust her when that's not it at all? In his head he knows that without their memories there's nothing he or she can do. That it wouldn't be anyone's fault and that she, too, would suffer. And maybe he's wrong and nothing would change at all. Maybe his suspicions and worries won't happen.

...But it's there, worsened by how he could see the way Cloud was affected by Tifa's relationship with him. And he can still remember how brokenhearted she had been back in Camelot.

How childish of him.]

...Just... Not yet.

[Maybe he could send Cloud first—]

Eustace...?

[She doesn't quite understand yet what it is about the idea that strains his heart so much, and she can really only chalk it up to one thing—the wrong thing, but it makes her own heart swell with emotion.

Because the thought of leaving all of this behind—of leaving him behind and forgetting it all, everything that they have, even if it is just for a little while, hurts. She wants to go back and check on things, she wants to see how her friends are doing, how far they might have gotten in their journey to find Sephiroth, but knowing that leaving here means having a hole left in her heart that she would never know needed filling...

The thought alone has her burying her face into his chest again, her own hold tightening around him until it can go no tighter.]

... Okay. Not yet. [A pause, and she lifts her head and slowly rises on her tiptoes.] I'm sorry...

[For scaring him, for making him worry, for making his heart hurt even a little bit.]

[He closes his eyes as he tightens his own embrace, knowing he's being unfair. He took the chance and left to check on things as well as test the baubles, yet he's not allowing her to do the same. And he knows she'll want to see how her friends are doing, see what's going on. Yet because of his own fear...]

...No.

[He meets her and brushes his lips against hers, a small sigh escaping him before he kisses her gently.]

It's my fault.

... What is?

[The words are whispered across his lips, Tifa pausing to nuzzle her nose lovingly and reassuringly against his.]

You didn't do anything wrong...?

[Something odd is going on in that heart of his, and she does wonder if it has anything to do with what he said earlier about coming to terms with her and her world. Does he... know something that she doesn't? ... Is he just as afraid that things will change when she comes back?

She wants to ask, but her heart feels heavy, and she doesn't want to tarnish this reunion with any more sadness if she can help it.]

[He can only smile sweetly yet sadly at her words.]

I'm just being selfish, that's all.

[Not completely a lie, yet not completely true.]

And I'm not...? Here I am, hogging all your attention.

[When the dogs missed him just as much as she did, and she's just going to cling onto him all the more tighter for it.]

You're allowed to be selfish once in a while, you know...

[She would be hard pressed to find someone as selfless as Eustace. He can want things for himself every now and then, and Tifa would happily give it.]

Hm... But this is different. I don't want to stop you from doing something you want... But that is exactly what I'm trying to do.

[He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against hers.]

All for my own interests...

[Someone else might have been upset to hear that, upset about being stopped, but of all the people, Tifa understands that feeling the most, and she has the patience to hear him out. The endless love and devotion to do what he wishes...]

It's fine.

[It really, really is, and she hopes that he'll stop beating himself up over it.]

I can wait... I know that there are other ways to do it too, aren't there? For me to check up on things?

...Mm. The Observatory.

[The recalls what he knows about that particular method.]

It also uses the baubles, but I believe you view through their telescope to see what's going on in your world. Like a movie, I suppose.

Maybe I can do that instead...?

[Tifa gives him a careful look.]

I wouldn't mind at least checking up on everyone... Knowing where we're at with Sephiroth...

[The name is said with a heavy voice, because that was... the other thing...]

...You can.

[He wants her to know, truly. Wants her to be able to actually see and meet her friends. To come back feeling reassured, refreshed. He knows she misses them and he's letting his own fears get the better of him.]

But you can choose whichever way you want. I mean it.

[He looks at her with a firm gaze.]

You deserve to be able to see everything with your own eyes...and a chance to see your friends again.

[He's too good to her...]

I'll pick whatever way you're comfortable with...

[She can't say she knows for sure his reasons, but they don't even matter when it comes to whatever decision she's going to make.]

I've just... been thinking about it for a while. Ever since you brought it up. That's all... It doesn't have to be right away, but... [She smiles up at him, meeting his firm gaze with a softer one of her own.] It's been two years, and I think I'd rest a little easier at least knowing.

Of course.

[A soft smile as he gently brushes back her hair, the curl of his finger gently caressing her skin as it traces down her eyes and cheek, down to her lips before he ends up leaning in to kiss her softly there. It's a little needy, but he can't help it.

He loves her too much.

So much he's willing to give up everything he once had to be with her.]

[It's such a tender thing, the way he touches her. It's almost as if he's afraid he might break her. It's moments like this when Tifa feels truly cherished... a feeling she never dreamt she would feel again. It makes her think back to that dream they shared, as she showed him around Midgar, and they shared steamed buns together. Back then, regardless of reality or dream, Tifa never once saw herself being here like this with a man that she loved as much as she loves him.

All she can do is close her eyes, and the trembling sigh that she frees is soaked up by the kiss. Her own is just as needy, wanting to make up for the lost time, and all the kisses that they would have had if he hadn't been gone. Her fingers cling to him, curling around his shirt as if she means to keep him to her for longer...

Desperate to make this moment last just a little longer...]

I'm so happy you're back...

[How many times will her heart need to convey that before it feels like enough? She's so happy that she could cry again, though she won't. She will spare him those tears, and instead, all of those emotions come out in a single breath of laughter that might tickle his lips with a warm, familiar tingle.

She doesn't want to ruin this moment, and she lets it linger for a while, their foreheads resting together, their noses nuzzling with one another, more soft kisses peppered in between as their breaths mingle, before...]

There was... something else...

[So sweet. Tender. Gentle. Everything he never had in his world all wrapped up in this beautiful person right here. This beautiful moment. Again that time he was back in his world just feels like a mundane shell compared to all of this.

And so that greed grows, his hand fully cupping her cheek as his other arm wraps more firmly around her. He wants to continue this... To savor and enjoy it further. So when she starts to speak, he only pushes back more forcibly, not letting her finish first. He's not...rough, but he is a little more demanding compared to before, making it clear he'd rather stop the talking.]

[Dishes clatter gently as Tifa's forced to find purchase against the counter, and although she has so much more that she needs to share with him, she doesn't resist. She can't. Her heart, her mind, her body won't let her as she yields to his demands, allows him to take whatever he wants from her. He deserves it, after all—he deserves all of her love and more, and she is willing to give it.

So she practically melts beneath him, the thought being washed away momentarily, her whole mind clouded with his everything—his scent, his taste, the feel of his hands and the way his lips touch hers in just the right ways...

She really shouldn't, but there's a welcome purr against his lips, inviting him further if he dares to. Three days is a long time to go without this...

For them, at least.]

Eustace... [His name tumbles out of her in a sigh, breathless and almost needy.] We... Not here...

[But she makes no effort to stop him.]

Upstairs.

[A low voice rumbles in return, his lips quick to resume the increasingly impassioned kiss. He's prying her lips open with his tongue, wanting to prevent her from saying anything more as he seeks out to taste her fully. To make her melt more beneath him and quit thinking about everything else.

Of course... He knows. He knows he shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be losing himself like this. Knows he should stop and wait.

But he doesn't want to.

And just as he's slipped his hand beneath her legs to pull her up onto the counter, just as he's pushing them a little further...

"Jeez, what the hell did you forget you have custo—KYAAA!!"

The doors bang open and Mirabelle flies, at first complaining about the lack of service to shrieking in embarrassment and quickly flying out, sputtering something about HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT IN THE KITCHEN!!!

...]

Edited 2023-07-21 04:54 (UTC)

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