open ✨ life can be harsh, it can be bitter.

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart feat. Cloud Strife & YOU
What: September catch-all. Tifa tries to find something else she enjoys outside of Heavenly Blanc, and drags Cloud along for the ride.
Where: Where the threads happen
When: When the threads happen
Content Warnings: N/A

𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 '𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 & 𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚊 ★ 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚙 ★ 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 ★ 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 ★ ♫

Comments

no such thing!

[starshower]

[When Blue appears in the tent, Tifa gives him the loudest "hey!" she's given anyone who's stopped by the tent so far. She's excited to see the pair finally show up—she was wondering when they would!—and is quick to give Eevee the attention he seeks and deserves when he hops onto the counter. He gets some pets, and a first taste of the meat, which she offers in her hand.]

Welcome to Strife's Bites! It's good to see you both!

[With her free hand, she slaps Cloud on the back. Hard.]

True, Cloud's been doing the cooking! Good thing you came when you did, I think he's really starting to get the hang of it!

[... Is he, though? We'll just have to see, but that won't stop her from trying to encourage him. He really has been doing a lot of work here, and she's just the cute prep girl working next to him, but she's beaming with pride as she stares up at Cloud, in all of his blondie streetmeat glory.]

[halloflamer]

Oh! My mistake, [Blue laughs, waving an apologetic hand at Cloud.] Well, thanks for your hard work in advance, then! [He gives him an enthusiastic salute to boot] I bet it'll taste great!

[Famous... last words??]

[Well, he'll soon see. Eevee happily wags his bushy tail as Tifa feeds him, and Blue watches to see what Eevee- that spoiled little brat- thinks of the cooking as he eagerly snaps up the first taste. From his cheerful reaction, it seems like a hit!]

Okay, if it's good enough for 'vee, I guess it's good enough for me, [Blue chuckles, and rests his cheek in his palm.] Lay it on me! What's available?

[memorate]

[ Cloud happily soaks in whatever encouragement he gets from this, but he also makes it seem like he knew what he was doing all along. ]

There's nothing to it, just takes some skill.

[ He says, as he hands Blue an overloaded meat skewer, dripping with too much sauce. Apparently what's "available" is literally everything, all rolled up (skewered) into one. ]

Here, don't let it get cold.

[ Is Tifa still proud of him?? ]

[starshower]

[She is very proud of him! Look at Cloud go, getting all confident about his cooking skills, even though... hm.

Chicken, beef, even some grilled fish in there... well, at least Blue will be able to taste everything on the menu, rather than them having to recommend one to him. The sauce drips all over the counter as Cloud hands it over, and Tifa is quick to follow it, wiping it clean with a napkin.]

Everything! [Tifa says with some forced enthusiasm as she picks up a second napkin for Blue. He's going to need that, especially as the stick that's holding the meat begins to bend and droop from the weight of the sauce.] A whole sample skewer, on the house!

[Please eat it quickly...]

[halloflamer]

[Well, that sure is... everything. Blue blinks at it once before he reaches out to take it carefully- with both hands- cupping to accommodate the weight and dripping sauce as it trails over the counter. Whoops....]

Woah, I'm feeling pretty VIP, here! [He beams, tugging off a piece of chicken with his teeth. Heavy as the skewer may be, at least the sauce was delicious, and the meat seemed-- well, it was... a little charred in places, but the inside was pretty good! The char gives it more flavor, right? Blue chews thoughtfully and makes an approving sound.]

It's good! [Blue gives an approving thumbs up around his delicate hold on the skewer, deciding to eat it like a corn on the cob- that should be easier, right?] You sure are a jack of all trades in the kitchen, ain'tcha?

Oh, and I guess you too, since you helped, [See Cloud, you get recognition, too! Blue pries another piece of meat off for Eevee, feeding it from his sticky fingertips.] I used to make stuff like this camping out, once in a while. It's easy making veggie ones like this!

[memorate]

[ But it was the other way around... he cooked it and Tifa helped. You know what, he's just going to give up on correcting others at this point. If they think this is good enough that Tifa made it herself, then he must be doing something right. ]

Well, yeah, veggies are for beginners, of course it's easy.

[ He literally just learned how to make all of this today. There's no bigger newb than him. ]

[starshower]

[To have your cooking be compared to Tifa's is a high compliment indeed! It might have been a roundabout one, but she still beams at Cloud with an air of pride swelling all around her. This is going well! Better than some of the other customers, at least...

She takes an interest in what Blue has to say, watching Eevee with fondness before curiosity takes over.]

Camping out? You mean cooking these things over a campfire!?

[Somehow, the idea excites her. How long has it been since she's been able to do that?]

Mm, what I wouldn't give for some roasted chicken right about now. And not the kind that's cooked over a barbecue!

[halloflamer]

[Ah-- Blue's lips curled up at the corner just for a moment at Cloud's bragging, and he almost gives it away-- but he manages to recover without cracking up somehow, and glances between the veggies on the skewer- some still basically raw, others marked with char- and shrugs.]

Well, yeah!

[He's endearing. Don't worry, Tifa, you'll teach this one, yet!]

[Blue takes another chomp from his skewer- he doesn't mind some of the undercooked veggies, cuz they taste about as fine only lightly cooked- and nods.] Oh, yeah! [He wipes some sauce from his mouth with the back of his hand.] Me and Eevee are used to roughing it all the time when we travel around different regions, so I've gotten to be a pretty great camp cook- if I do say so myself. If we can get a nice bonfire going up on the mountain, we could roast all kinds of stuff! Sweet potatoes, the mushrooms that've been popping up....

[Blue plucks one of the local mushrooms from the skewer as an example, and pops it into his mouth.] I like 'em glazed with teriyaki, or something like that!

[memorate]

[ So he's an expert at cooking... camp cooking, to be precise. It quickly dawns on Cloud that he's the one out of his depth here, and he's suddenly more anxious about Blue critiquing his meat skewer. He seems to be enjoying it so far, at least... ]

If you're as good as you say you are, then how 'bout you make some of these mushrooms for us next time? We can consider it a fair payment.

[ Wasn't the skewer on the house?? ]

[starshower]

That's a great idea, Cloud! But... how about we take that up the mountain to a fire?

[The skewer was on the house, but Tifa likes Cloud's idea, except with a fun twist to it.]

Instead of staying cooped up down here, I think it'd be way more fun if we got him to cook us some of these mushrooms over a fire on top of Mount Silver. Might as well do something with them before they grow out of control, right? Maybe we could invite everyone else, too.

[She claps her hands.]

It'd be fun!

[halloflamer]

[That's right Cloud, respect your senpai, here! Blue chuckles easily, tearing another piece off his skewer and chewing thoughtfully.]

Oh?? Sure thing! Ahaha, but don't go roping me into a whole dinner party, [Blue laughs, holding his hands up to ease Tifa back a little.] 'course, I can always show you guys the ropes, and everyone can roast their own, self-serve style. How about it? A whole roasting party! Would sure be nice if we had sweet potatoes here....

Ah! Actually--

[Blue reaches into his backpack, fiddling around; Eevee perks up at the smell of what Blue tugs out, like a dog who knows the sound of his treat bag. Blue unfolds a cloth package of jerky strips made from the local mushrooms, and holds a couple pieces out to them. Some of them had a glaze; others were covered with sesame seeds.]

Here, give these a try! Might not be roasting, but one free sample deserves another, right?