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

[bluecastleace]

[Iwaizumi laughs a bit as he catches the ball, then begins dribbling again as he speaks.]

Well, that’s one way of looking at it. You’ll want to score some yourself too. [There’s a slightly teasing tone in his voice - obviously she must have figured that, but it’s funny to him that her first thought went to impeding the other team (just as important, really).]

You can try to steal the ball from them while they’re dribbling, or block them as they try to shoot. You think you can take this from me?

[starshower]

Won't know until I try.

[Tifa's been holding her cards closer to her chest than it may seem, because while she may not have the skill or the knowledge to really play basketball to its fullest, she does have a lot of speed—she's no martial artist master for nothing.

So, in true Final Fantasy Heroine Fashion, she goes for stylish overkill and comes at him at a full sprint, slides to come in at a lower angle, and slaps the ball out from under him mid-bounce to grab it, and she skids to a halt several feet away, her shoes leaving marks behind on the polished floor.]

Like that?

[And then with practiced precision, she shoots the ball at the hoop...

.... and misses.]

[bluecastleace]

[It’s a little embarrassing how stunned Iwa looks when Tifa deftly swipes the ball from him, but after the shock fades, he’s left with a breathless and impressed smile on his face. Okay, so he wasn’t expecting that. As for the shot, it doesn’t go in, but it’s still not a bad one.]

Well, shit. I’m impressed. You sure you’ve never done this before? I’m starting to feel like I’m being sharked.

Typically you’d want to get the ball through the hoop though. [He hopes his light teasing won’t impress too badly on this stranger. It’s all in good fun!]

[starshower]

[The ball bounces across the floor, sad and alone on the other side of the room behind Tifa as she exchanges a grin of confidence at him.]

I'm sure. This sport doesn't exist back on Gaia, far as I know.

[And if it does, she's never seen or heard of it.

When the ball rolls over to the two of them, she picks it up and gives it a toss at Iwa, confident he'll catch it.]

Most of the boys I knew wanted to grow up to be SOLDIER, not athletes.

[bluecastleace]

[Her confidence isn’t misplaced. He catches the ball with ease and turns to shoot it through the hoop. It’s not a “nothing but net” as they would call it, but it does make the basket, and he shuffles to retrieve it in one easy bounce.]

Yeah, well. We’ve got those where I’m from too believe it or not, but.

[He sends the ball back to her with another bounce.]

Not interested. [Would it be lame to say that he can’t even imagine having to kill someone?] Too bloody for me I guess.

But you know. [He cracks a small smile.] Someone here mentioned it to me - sports aren’t a bad way to get out those “primal urges”. [He quotes the statement with his fingers. It’s probably clear that he finds it to be a little silly.]

There’s no shame in defending your country, or...whatever it is you’re defending, but. Athletics are all I really know.

Basketball isn’t my sport though.

[starshower]

[If primal urges mean the unshakable urge to punch a certain silver-haired man in the face? Because if so, then she's all in. :)

She doesn't touch on the subject of SOLDIER any further than that—if that's the first place his mind went, then it's best to just leave it there. Once war heroes, the organization has strayed pretty far from what it used to be, according to Cloud... how much, she still isn't sure.

Best to keep the conversation light.]

I find that pretty hard to believe! You made that shot look easy. What's the sport of choice then?

[bluecastleace]

[It’s subtle, but his expression changes a bit when he says it - more enthusiasm, and not just a bit of pride.]

Volleyball is my game. We’ve got a league starting up here soon, actually.

But I’ve dabbled in plenty of others. Nothing better than some good competition, right?

[starshower]

Keeps things interesting.

[God knows they all need that these days, huh? With the way things are right now, they all have to find their own ways to keep themselves occupied, lest they want to go stir crazy, if that hasn't happened yet.]

I'd join in the fun, but I don't know the first thing about volleyball either. Kinda nice to see everyone starting these things up... who knows how long we'll be stuck here.

[bluecastleace]

[Iwa can’t help but frown a little at the last of her comment, but he brushes it off quickly - there’s volleyball to be discussed.]

Well, you wouldn’t be the only one. Pretty much no one around here knows anything about it, but learning is half the fun, right? I plan to teach them what I know.

[Eh, ehhh?]

You’d be welcome if you did want to join.

[starshower]

[She catches the frown but maintains her smile anyway. It isn't a bad thing, and she's learned to count the blessings of being here, but she understands too... which is why she's glad he's able to shrug the comment so easily as she wipes away the own worry in her eyes.]

When's the first meet? Maybe I'll stop by and see for myself. Don't wanna get too in over my head right from the get-go!

We can handwave the rest if you want! Plurk is pantheraliam if you want to plot it out <3

[bluecastleace]

Stop by in a couple days. [He smiles.] We’ll be having a few so everyone who wants to show up can make it. Right here in this gym.

[He says it proudly, and that’s cause this very place is from his own memory, greatly resembling the one from his home, but he won’t get into that for now.]

for sure!!

[starshower]

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[And when the time comes, Tifa will definitely be there. Not to play as much as watch, and cheer on both teams from the sidelines. Maybe one day, when she's learned enough about the sports he likes to play, she'll join them in a real game. Until then, it's probably best she keeps practicing.]