As usual, when things happen they happen quickly and unexpectedly: he didn't really think Tifa would be there, and he's both sorry and glad to see her. He's sorry because it means... she's not home with her family, but glad because it means...
...he's not alone. And then she hugs -- no, squeezes -- him hard and that... shocks him. Nobody's touched him with such fondness for decades, literally, and he has no idea what to do about it. He can hardly imagine being startled into inaction, but... then, just as he's remembering that politeness dictates he return her embrace she steps back and it's over.
Relieved yet... not, he closes his eyes and nods to her, then on full but deceptively stoic alert, steps into the room after her.
"I... didn't know. I took a chance." She looks... as lovely as ever; he's always liked Tifa, inasmuch as he allows himself to like anybody. After all those years alone, it's something he's had to learn to do all over again.
The lesson has been slow and difficult for him.
He nods, though, and answers her second question as well. "After I left you, I traveled to Junon and then to Mt. Nibel. On my way back through Nibelheim I... stopped at Shinra Mansion but the front door brought me here instead." That's still annoying, but not as annoying as it was a few short minutes ago. "It's been... several days. A week, perhaps."
Most of his time here has been spent in the forest; it's been more of a familiar comfort to him at night than the room down the hall. Technically they're both just places, but the one resonates with him a bit more than the other.
"And you? What happened after I left Midgar?" He can barely take his eyes off her, although he does his best to hide that fact.
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...he's not alone. And then she hugs -- no, squeezes -- him hard and that... shocks him. Nobody's touched him with such fondness for decades, literally, and he has no idea what to do about it. He can hardly imagine being startled into inaction, but... then, just as he's remembering that politeness dictates he return her embrace she steps back and it's over.
Relieved yet... not, he closes his eyes and nods to her, then on full but deceptively stoic alert, steps into the room after her.
"I... didn't know. I took a chance." She looks... as lovely as ever; he's always liked Tifa, inasmuch as he allows himself to like anybody. After all those years alone, it's something he's had to learn to do all over again.
The lesson has been slow and difficult for him.
He nods, though, and answers her second question as well. "After I left you, I traveled to Junon and then to Mt. Nibel. On my way back through Nibelheim I... stopped at Shinra Mansion but the front door brought me here instead." That's still annoying, but not as annoying as it was a few short minutes ago. "It's been... several days. A week, perhaps."
Most of his time here has been spent in the forest; it's been more of a familiar comfort to him at night than the room down the hall. Technically they're both just places, but the one resonates with him a bit more than the other.
"And you? What happened after I left Midgar?" He can barely take his eyes off her, although he does his best to hide that fact.