[If everyone's alright, she's not sure how to take that pause, and the way his tone changes. Still, though, the relief is plain in her voice when she answers.]
[It comes out more surprised than it probably should. "Lives with us", as in they live together? There are a million other questions that pop up in her mind, but none that seem easy to ask.]
[There's no question in Tifa's mind that Cloud cares about her. He's complimented her before, and thanked her, and made that clear in a million other ways. But he's being so open about it now, and the kinds of comments that she considers incredibly rare are coming much more frequently. It's not doing great things for her heart rate.
She laughs softly, suddenly very glad there's no way for him to see her blushing.]
If you're helping with her, I think that's probably where she gets it from.
[Really, she's always thought of him as the strong one.]
[Marlene has always been a tough, strong kid, and it makes Tifa incredibly happy to think of them spending time together. If that's how things end up, then they must have done something right.]
[This just keeps sounding better and better, really. He's painting a pretty flawless picture. The mention of Aerith's church still makes her chest ache, but she swallows and forces herself past it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Do you give away food to every new arrival?
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[She's actually being honest. He's special.]
Usually, I just try to answer their questions when they arrive.
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Thank you.
[There's a short pause, and then she continues a little more softly.]
Hey, Cloud? How is everyone doing at home?
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Everyone's alright.
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Good. Barret and Marlene are doing okay, too?
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Yeah. You're doing a good job with her.
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Thank you.
[It sounds a bit more like a question than a statement. This is such a weird situation to be in, and that's finally starting to sink in.]
So I'm still living with Barret, then?
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[And Denzel, because apparently finding kids and taking them home for her to adopt was his new thing.]
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[It comes out more surprised than it probably should. "Lives with us", as in they live together? There are a million other questions that pop up in her mind, but none that seem easy to ask.]
She's okay after... everything that happened?
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She's a strong kid. Probably gets it from you.
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She laughs softly, suddenly very glad there's no way for him to see her blushing.]
If you're helping with her, I think that's probably where she gets it from.
[Really, she's always thought of him as the strong one.]
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He does better when she's by his side, after all.]
She's the one who's teaching me.
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[Marlene has always been a tough, strong kid, and it makes Tifa incredibly happy to think of them spending time together. If that's how things end up, then they must have done something right.]
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Yeah. They both are.
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Both? What do you mean?
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... That's right. She didn't know about Denzel, did she?]
I found a kid when I was visiting Aerith's church. You've been taking care of him too.
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What's he like?
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Denzel's a good kid. He tries really hard.
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That all sounds so...
[Impossible.]
Nice.
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Well, you know what they say. If it sounds too good to be true...
And in this case it actually is!]
Sure about that?
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Isn't it?
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You didn't sound so sure.
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1/3
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I lied, it'll be four
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1/2
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