Kingdom Hearts ni kawatte, oshiokiyo!

[gloves_come_off]

Characters: Tifa (gloves_come_off) and Aerith (nymphaea) AND YOU.
Setting: Cafeteria, the meadow, a lot of places!
Format: Go with whatever.
Summary: Tifa (gloves_come_off) and Aerith (nymphaea) enter the Tower together. Oh, and you can bug them! Feel free to respond to the prompts, and specific whether you want to tag Tifa, Aerith, or both! Feel free to make up your own prompts as well! (And as a reminder, they're Kingdom Hearts AU. Have fun with that.)
Warnings: T&A is also an abbreviation for something else.

Preface

Feel free to make up a prompt off-shooting this!
Waking up in a strange place wearing a skintight white suit was not something Aerith could have prepared for. Finding Tifa had kept her from panicking, but now they had to find Kairi! She didn't know if the letter they had both received was true, but she knew deep down that Kairi was okay, and that was all that mattered. Following the martial artist, Aerith could only stare in amazement as she looked about in the setting. "We've been in towers before, but nothing like this."

"You got that right," Tifa responded. The skintight feature of the clothes they awoke with were all the more apparent on her, but luckily her black leather outfit was in the trunk nearby and she made no hesitation to change into something a bit more flattering. The two girls managed to meet up with each other outside of the dorms, and awoke around the same time. The only thing that worried them aside from the notes explaining the destruction of their world (which one?) was finding the young Keybearer. "I swear, this is like when we were flung to Traverse Town all over again."

---

Cafeteria

Aerith looked down at the bowl of oatmeal, trying not to show how displeased she felt. She knew they were supposed to eat it, but something so bland, especially after being accustomed to Tifa's cooking, was a little hard to swallow -- pun intended. "It's not so bad," she said, her voice full of false cheer. "Just close your eyes; pretend that we're at camp and it's Kairi's turn to cook."

"Usually that's my line, but I'm not going to complain." Tifa made a face at the oatmeal - even Kairi wouldn't be able to mess this up. "Look, it's only for one meal, right? After this, if we find the proper ingredients I'll be sure to make us something twice as good as normal to make up for this!" Tifa returned Aerith's false cheer, but there was hope. There was always hope. Right? That's all they had, really.

---

Meadow - Floor 25

[Tifa liked nature and all, but even someone who knew the girls' dynamic would have ascertained that the flower girl was the more rambunctious one of the two when it came to flora. Hanging back a little to make certain that the floor really was safe, Tifa couldn't help but smile as Aerith playfully practically frolicked through the meadow. Right now, they only had each other - Tifa had to take on the role of being extra cautious in this room, at the very least. Not that she minded - she knew that when push came to shove, Aerith would come and save her as well.]

---

Library - Floor 3

[The library wasn't all too different than the one they found in Hollow Bastion, and as creepy as Hollow Bastion was, at least it had the familiarity considerig that Tifa and Aerith were there when it was originally Radiant Garden. This tower wasn't familiar at all. In vain, the girls attempted to make heads or tails of this particular showing of shelves to find that none of them answered any of their questions.]

---

Projection Room - Floor 12

It's almost like we're in a gummi ship, seeing the vast space between worlds...

[Tifa nodded in response to Aerith's observation. The floor was gorgeous, though also void and empty. Was it gorgeous just because it was unfamiliar? It was difficult to say - despite how hard she tried to look, neither of them couldn't recognize any of the stars that passed by as any of the worlds they had visited before on their journey with Kairi.]

Much like the library, I don't think we'll find anything of use, here. [Tifa didn't want to be a spoilsport, but something about the vast space scared her, almost as if she could be sucked in.] We can come here to admire the projection a bit later, don't you think?

---

Laboratory - Floor 27

Didn't we see something like this in Radiant Garden's main control room? [This is true - Space Paranoids had nothing on this particular room in the tower. Tifa turned to see if Aerith was listening, but it was obvious that both of the girls were preoccupied with seeing how everything in the room worked.]

Comments

[ cafeteria ]

[inheritedlight]

And look who was there to complete the trio! Kairi happened to be in the cafeteria at that moment and couldn't help but overhear the conversation and just give off that signature giggle and grin.

"Oh, c'mon! My food isn't that bad, is it?"

She was definitely happy to see them both here, but worried with what was lurking in the tower already.

[nymphaea]

"Kairi!" Aerith gets up from the table and flings herself into the smaller girl's arms, hugging her tightly. "We were so worried about you!"

She pulls back enough to look at the keybearer. "Are you okay?"

[gloves_come_off]

Tifa was more than glad to allow Aerith to be the more physically affectionate of the two. "I knew you'd be okay. Looks like you went ahead of us here instead of the other way around, huh?" Tifa thought that Kairi showed some sign of being here somewhat longer than the other girls; she could see it in her eyes.

[inheritedlight]

That was all she needed for confirmation that they were the Tifa and Aerith she knew. Kairi squealed and gathered her friends into a tight hug, smiling.

"It's really you two!" she cheered. Her last run in with the Tifa that was here was awkward, but she still went with it the best she could.

"Did you two just arrive here?"

[nymphaea]

Pinned between Tifa and Kairi, Aerith lets out a small oof. It's a bit difficult to breathe, but she's so happy that the three of them are together again that she's willing to endure it.

"Yes, we just got here." A slight pause, then, "Where is 'here,' exactly?"

[gloves_come_off]

Tifa has excellent hug-cushions. Tifa had the same question as Aerith, but for the sake of time she decided to not ping in on it and allow the Keybearer to answer the flower girl's question. Instead, Tifa decided to look around to make certain that nobody skeevy was listening in on them, as they only had themselves to count on.

[Cafeteria -mid afternoon]

[absolute_perception]

Elian didn't really have the appetite to eat something so strange. The natto he recognized along with the kim-chi and the century egg. It was getting him to stomach it that seemed difficult.

He walked his tray toward the corner of the cafeteria. At his seat, he looked over at the girls but said nothing for now. With chopsticks in hand, he just pokes what has been given to him.

"Yeck." Came the simple sound of disgust as he pushed the tray aside before he laid his head down on the table top.

[nymphaea]

She looks at the man who seems to be just as unsatisfied, then looks back at Tifa with a frown. "I guess it doesn't get any better after the oatmeal."

Aerith refocuses her attention on the stranger. "Are you okay?"

[gloves_come_off]

"I don't blame you for making that face," Tifa came by and sat down across form Elian. "This isn't exactly the finest cuisine." Tifa didn't recognize the young man, but he didn't seem particularly dangerous. And any good guys she could find would be a godsend, really.

[absolute_perception]

His small stature was hidden by the table. He looked up and blinked at the two women that came toward him and his back straightened. His shy demeanor took the back seat when he was addressed. "The oatmeal is necessary, but unfortunately nothing that follows is appetizing. I don't recommend the puffer fish."

Elian looked toward Aerith with a nod to address her question. "Yes, I am... although I don't think my stomach is going to like me much after this."

[nymphaea]

"Your stomach might not, but the rest of your body will appreciate the nutrients." It's better to see the best in things, right? Right. Maybe that will help Aerith finally pluck up enough courage to eat the oatmeal.

She smiles. "I'm Aerith, and this is Tifa. What's your name?"

[gloves_come_off]

Tifa simply nodded as Aerith introduced the two of them. Usually when it came to 'public relations' Aerith was the better of the two for the job, so Tifa was more than content to allow Aerith to handle the introductions as she sat back, swirling her own oatmeal in her hand with a spoon.

Puffer fish, huh? Even the most talented of chefs had to take care in preparing it, considering its poisonous properties. Tifa mentally went over how she'd take care to cook it as the girls awaited Elian's response.

[absolute_perception]

"That's true. My name is Elian. Some of my friends call me Alien." He shyly shrugged. "It's nice to meet you both."

"The Century eggs aren't really that bad, just a little bitter. They smell worse than they taste. As long as you plug your nose or hold your breath, it's not that bad." He tried to reason with the harshness. At the very least, if he could muscle through it, he wouldn't have to worry about hunger again for a while. He was hardly one to complain.

"I had the oatmeal. It's not bad once you get past the first several spoonfuls. I like to think of it as a really mushy granola bar without the other stuff to make it taste better. I guess the proper word to describe it would be boring." His legs under the table were crossed at the ankles and swung slowly. He really didn't know a better way to verbally get his point across and talking did seem to help out a great deal more since he was doing it a lot more.

AGH sorry for the delay ;o;

[nymphaea]

She wrinkles her nose at Elian's too-apt description. "Yuck." Now she's dreading eating hers, although once she does...

"Tifa is a great cook, I'm sure she could whip something up if we have the ingredients." The worst of Tifa's dishes would be a hundred times better than Century eggs and bland oatmeal.

She regards the young man thoughtfully. "How long have you been here, Elian?"

[gloves_come_off]

Well, Century eggs were an acquired taste - rather than interject with that, though, Tifa simply nodded. "The first one may not be all that great, but like I said before, I'll make sure the next one is ten times better in order to make up for it!" Tifa forced a chipper smile.

She then turned to Elian, awaiting his answer to Aerith's question.

[absolute_perception]

Rather than give an exact answer of precise time, he shrugged and gave a simple response. "About three weeks. My collar is due for the second cycle come Saturday."

Tifa was right about the Century Eggs. His father used to eat them but Elian never acquired the taste for them. The smell alone often turned his stomach. Then again, his father did a lot of weird things that Elian couldn't quiet understand. The oatmeal he could tolerate a whole lot better.

He picked up the wedge of egg and sighed. "My dad liked them." Maybe it was nostalgia that made him pick them. It was hard to not think about the very man that helped in his existence even if it was artificial by design.

I thought I had notifs turned on. ._.

[nymphaea]

The discussion about eggs is pretty much soaring over Aerith's head. She's never been much for cooking, since that's always been Tifa's domain, so she looks between the two of them with feigned interest. Oh, finally, a lead back into the conversation!

"You must miss him." Aerith misses her parents too, but after so many years they've become a vague, fuzzy memory in the back of her mind.

[meadow, floor 25]

[syncingdoll]

<sub>[Kohaku was just on her way out - she'd been tending to her sequestered little patch of morning glories, per usual. They had yet to bloom, set back but still living by the month left alone before.. but she had a decent hope that she'd see flowers soon.

Aerith's buzzing about to and fro was easy to compare to a happy bee, and that was congenial enough for Kohaku. People busied being happy were unobservant people, after all, and it made an easy occasion to slip away from the floor unnoticed -]</sub>

..Oh, excuse me.

_{[And then she all but bumped straight into Tifa. Good job, Kohaku.]}

[nymphaea]

[Crouched down and looking at the flowers, she was so distracted that she didn't notice that there was another person with them until she bumped into Tifa. She stands up, brushing off the front of her dress, and walks over to them.] Are you okay?

[It's a question directed at both of them, but her eyes are fixed on the stranger.]

[gloves_come_off]

[Tifa already knew that she was all right, and also went to check on the stranger. Getting up, Tifa offered her hand to Kohaku.]

Out of all the space out here, you had to try to occupy mine, huh?

[It was in jest, as could be told from Tifa's smile]