open 🌠 hello world! i'm your wild girl

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart & YOU
What: December catch-all!
Where: Where the threads happen
When: When the threads happen
Content Warnings: N/A

𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘹 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌 ★ 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 ★ 𝚐𝚢𝚖𝚗𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚞𝚖 ★ 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 ★ 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 ★ ♫

Comments

[bachagain]

[ ahaha. there's a look of understanding here -- a moment where his more boisterous expression makes way for something that's quietly fond.

before his energy spikes back up as he bounces over at the invitation, placing the sheets of music aside for a moment to run his hands over the keys. ]

Riiiight! Correct! 'Course I play -- didn't I tell you? I'm an idol and composer. Both those things might fight it out sometimes, but no matter the name, it's all music through my veins. ♪ [ he did not tell her. ] I guess you're kinda the same? Like when we met, you showed that fish what's what... You sure are gentler at the keys, wahaha!

[ admittedly, leo is not very sensitive to the ladies. or, um, with most of his words. and no one asked for this rant, but he's giving it anyway. ]

But that's why it's so good, right? You don't gotta think too much about the stuff around you or the things you are if you're playing. It's just the music -- the next note [ a hand on the keys, playing a simple, little phrase as he says this ] and the next note and the next note, and what those pretty sounds are saying in the moment. It's fun, I love it!

[starshower]

[He did kind of tell her... when he and Cloud were bickering about music and cakes at the Church, but it's different hearing about it when Leo isn't trying to convince someone as stubborn to believe him. It's double helpful, because Tifa agrees.

As he plays his idle notes, she presses keys to match his, and they string together to make a short melody.]

Just you and the music, [she says gently with a small nod.] What made you get into it anyway?

[His passion for music is one to be admired.]

[bachagain]

I liked that! Here, here, match this one--

[ he'll put together another short phrase for her to complete, this one a bit more elaborate. maybe at some point he'll push too far and come up with something that's a bit more difficult to accompany as he gets carried away, but for the time being he's having fun.

he's not too far gone that he can't answer her questions though. there's a certain sense of something else when he speaks about this... something different than his usual rants. it's like he's a little more grounded, but at the same time not at all.

the weird tone of a genius-- ]

Putting it all simple like that doesn't match me, you know! How'd you get into it... How'd you discover it... D'you ask a baby how it learned to breathe? How it learned to walk? No way! I was born for it; it just came to me, and I grasped it! ♪

[ if she punched him out of the room no one would blame her ]

What about you? When'd you pick it up?

[ just. simply. after that mess. ]

[starshower]

[Tifa does match it, only after he's done explaining his answer and before she answers the question. Hers isn't as elaborate, having only one hand to play with while she props her chin up with the other, but she's having fun creating these little tunes with him, and that's what matters.]

Hmm. It's been so long...

[Her feelings of nostalgia paint her features, and in it, there's both a sadness and fondness for simpler times. Time to open the headcanon drawer.]

I was a kid when I started learning. I remember hearing someone play in person for the very first time... was pretty enamoured by the performance. Anyone would've been... I remember thinking that I wanted to be able to do that too.

[With that, she leans back and stares up at the ceiling, kicking her feet against the ground beneath them.]

Not just to be able to play, but to make someone feel what I did. You know...? Calm, at peace with everything. Even for just a little while.

[She breaks out of the reverie with a giggle, bumping his shoulder with hers.]

Hard to follow up your answer, though!

[bachagain]

[ ... oh. tifa might say that leo's answer is hard to follow up, but the words she's said are... actually more than fine, to be honest. it's why she gets a shoulder bump back to match hers, his own rambunctious laughter echoing through the room.

that's only after the quiet moment he takes to really take in the response, those heartfelt words. they're a bit like what he thought when he first started out as an idol...? back when he thought that it'd be nice to just make people smile and laugh, like he did for ruka.

hmmm. ]

Nooope. Don't say all that sweet, gross stuff and then be like eh, it's hard to follow you up! Where's the spunk from when you were punching fish? Be like... This is why I got into it! This is why I like it! And that's all!

[ he won't say it out loud, but there's a silent approval at the origins of her passions... not that there needs to be any.

it's just nice. to hear simple, pretty reasons like that sometimes, instead of the complicated bullshit ensemble stars gives us. ]

[starshower]

Spunk? I've got plenty of that to go around.

[She pauses as a bubble of laughter bursts from her, the tender sentiment replaced by the spunk he recalls from their first day(?) here. Notes start to play as she repeats his words, loud and lively to match her enthusiasm, a stark contrast to her playing earlier.]

This is why I got into it! And this is why I like it!

[In between her words, she plays a quick tune.]

... How was that?

[bachagain]

[ pppppffft. he can't help the wide, amused grin at that. there's that spunk!!! that spunk that made him pause for a moment and think: wouldn't it suck to be on her bad side!

it's not surprising what his answer is to her question with that expression on his face. ]

I like it! I mean...

[ ah, wait.

his hands go to the keys, then. there's a mirror of those lively, loud notes that tifa played in the lull, as he adjusts his response to be more fitting to their current situation. ]

I like it, wahaha!

[ give him a second for that wild energy to settle somewhat, so he can add in more genuinely, his fingers resting on the keys but not playing anything: ]

... Just like I liked your reason for starting out! Not that it matters or anything what I think about it, but, y'know!

[ it's sweet. ]

[starshower]

I think it matters.

[Everyone's opinion does, even his! Leo finds joy in the same thing she does, so of course she'll take it to heart. Even if it's something as silly as an opinion or reason for liking what she likes, Tifa isn't going to let it slide that easily.

But she isn't going to sit here and continue to argue about that, either.]

Alright, so I know you can play the piano, but what about some of the other instruments in here? Haven't met anyone who's claimed they can play the trumpet, or a violin...!

[bachagain]

[ aha. another sweet thing to say, and the edges of his expression soften just the slightest at that. it's both expected and unexpected, a genuine statement he won't really fight.

there's other stuff she's asking, anyway. he looks at the different instruments around them as she speaks, squinting at them as if he'd just realized they were there. which he hadn't, of course -- the piano's obviously his favorite, but, ]

Uhh... The violin, a little! I'm not like Mama with super high stats who can play a buncha stuff no problem, and it's not like I have to play an instrument super well to write for it... But it's still fun to pick one up and play a tune, instead of stuffing the notes into a computer.

[ which is how he normally makes stuff, ]

[starshower]

A computer...?

[Midgar's advanced, but surely not that advanced? (I don't actually know.)]

You mean you can write these kinds of things without an actual instrument?

[Teach this baffled woman all about playing instruments on a computer!!!]