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Sooooo...[ Aerith's face comes on the camera with a bright smile. ] I was thinking we could all use something a little fun to do, so how about a little party? [ She pauses and then puts one finger up in the air and shakes her head. ] Wait, no, not a party [ forgive her Watts, it's not a party! ] a potluck get together. [ She told him she was going to do it. He'd better be prepared. ] I have decorations thought up and a location already, all I'd need is some people that might be willing to bring some food. That's the best part of a potluck right? Everyone bringing a dish of their own.

I was thinking maybe people could bring something from their own world. I had a talk with a friend a bit ago about how similar but different our homes are and maybe this would be a neat way to share that with each other. If you'd like to come, let me know so I have a general idea of what to expect. I'm thinking of holding it in a week.

That should be plenty of time, right? [ She thinks so at least. She falls silent for a second and, anyone that knows her well may notice her expression gets a bit more sad before she forces a smile again. ] Oh! I'm also going to start selling potted flowers so that people can take some of them home with them and maybe grow them in their own place. I already have two helpers to help me bring them to the shop, so we'll have them set up soon. Drop on by!

[ With that she moves to turn the thing off only to stop midway through. Anyone who knows her really well may notice that her expression drops for just a second before she speaks again. ]

I was also wondering if anyone else has been having any...[ no, she doesn't really want to mention that she's had some nightmares here and there. Hmm, how else to phrase this. ] Has anyone else experienced anything weird? It's been really cold at this one spot in my garden and at the shop but...it's not really...it doesn't feel quite natural. The flowers aren't really happy in that one spot either, even if they're still growing.

II. June Showers bring some Flowers
Aerith had made her announcement from her little garden that she'd only brought a few people to. It wasn't that she wanted to hide it from people, but more that sometimes she just wanted a place to be alone. Everyone wanted that now and then, right? The people closest to her like Llewellyn and Cloud knew where it was and how to open the gate. Today she'd planned on bringing a few potted plants back with her in a wheelbarrow to the shop but things didn't always go as planned.

Sadly, the flowers in the pot she'd put together had ended up in one of the cold spots she'd spoken of and they seemed to have started to wilt at the tips of their petals.

"Oh no. You poor thing," she frowned and set it down and let out a sigh. Only for her exasperation to grow as rain started to fall down on her head. She looked up with frustration at the sky. "You looked just fine a second ago!" Clearly, telling the sky it hadn't looked like it was going to rain is a very helpful thing to do.

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"He doesn't even deny it!" she feigned shock and awe at the comment, though that quickly turned to surprise by his suggestion.

"You did? Well, who would I be to say no to that?" After all this might be the very first time he'd ever really come directly to invite her somewhere. She trotted after him quickly and then moved in front of him. "Wait! Are you really just going to leave me just like that?"

The ghost of a smile flickered across his lips at that, but he rolled his shoulders in a shrug before putting a hand on his hip, nonchalant.

"You looked like you were busy."

She puts her own hands on her hips and then stomps her foot while giving him a quick pouting expression.

"I'm never too busy for you. Unless..." she frowned and looked down dejectedly. "you don't want me to come now?"

He'd been prepared for a lot of responses, but 'I'm never too busy for you' wasn't one of them. He blinked for a moment, uncertain how to respond before clearing his throat and taking a step toward leaving.

"I wouldn't be here otherwise, would I?"

"You're cute when you get like that," she teased. Maybe it wasn't nice to tease him like that, but she couldn't help it. It really was just a bit too easy. Still, standing out here in the rain was getting to be a problem and she shivered as more came down.

"Guess you wouldn't. So, where are you taking me?"

"Like what, exactly?" Though he should know by now, with Aerith, she could mean literally anything. They were getting drenched out here, though, and he looked out toward the city. "Maybe somewhere with an umbrella first."

"Oh, you know," she said not giving up on the teasing yet. Then again, did she ever really give up on the teasing him? Nope, not really. Someone had to keep him on his toes clearly and who better than her to be that someone?

"Umbrella or maybe just somewhere inside."

"No, I don't." But with Aerith, that was usually a given. She was playful, and that meant teasing him most days. He was cool with it. It was very her, and for all her stubbornness and impracticality, she was warm, loving, and kind.

"How about a covered carriage?" It'd be the fastest way to the restaurant in the rain.

"Oh, well, that's too bad," she flashed a quick grin followed by a wink. For a second she thought about maybe not going for the first thought that popped into her head. It was too good for her to resist though, so she went for it: "You know..." she swayed back and forth. "you were also a really cute girl. Maybe there's lots of things that make you cute."

Yes, she did indeed go there. Just couldn't help it. "Covered carriage, huh? That actually sounds like a pretty nice date activity."

He breathed a sigh at her mention of the outfit, but just put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Like what?" All in all, aside from the lecherous advances of don Corneo, and getting cat-called at every intersection, it hadn't been all that bad. Embarrassing that Tifa hadn't recognized him...or maybe it was impressive. Andrea had a gift, that was for sure.

"Yeah?" Maybe that had been his point, Aerith.

"Like this for starters!" The way he put his hands on his hips and shook his head like that was always kind of cute to her. For some reason she genuinely enjoyed seeing him get flustered. Maybe that wasn't the kindness thing on her part, but hey, not everything needed to be sugar right? There was the spice part too! "Your dancing was pretty cute too!" She gave him a little wink and then pointed ahead.

"Lead the way then."

There was an annoyed grunt before he turned toward the street, looking for a cab to flag down. It might have been embarrassing at first, but he had ended up enjoying himself after all. What did that mean? Exactly what Andrea had said, didn't it? Never be afraid. Maybe there was some truth to that after all.

"I guess it wasn't so bad." Which was the closest she was going to get to hearing him admit he enjoyed it. A cab made it's way by then and he succeeded in flagging it down.

"You're practically an expert at this," she said with a laugh. It couldn't be helped, she had to joke about the fact that she'd heard Tifa compliment his lever pulling. There was no malice about it, in fact she'd found the awkwardness in Tifa's compliment kind of endearing. Cloud may not have realized it, but Aerith could tell just how important he was to Tifa.

"At last you admit it!"

"Used 'em once or twice." He rolled his shoulder is a shrug as he held the door to the carriage for her, smiling slightly. "After you."

He shrugged again at her accusation and looked away to hide his continued smile. "I learned a lot from Andrea."

"So little experience but already so advanced!" she said with a little smirk as she got up into the carriage. She pulled her dress forward and then plopped herself down in a cart. Once he'd gotten in she shook her head, causing a bit of water to splash off onto him.

"I bet he'd be pretty happy to hear that," she said with a little pout. "My hair's going to take forever to dry."

"I'm a fast learner." He frowned as he got in behind her, as he was now just as wet as she was.

"Maybe it'll dry on the way." It was a small concession, but something, right? "Sorry for making you stand in the rain."

"That so? You do seem to be picking up super fast." She put a hand up to her hair and then frowned.

"You know, I don't think it'll dry that fast." Not with how thick her hair was. She frowned and shook her head, splashing a bit of water again. "I was the one that was already out there, silly. I'd have gotten wet no matter what. Thouuuugh..." she drew the word out as she smiled. "We'd probably both be less wet if you hadn't teased me like that."

"Maybe I need to work on my timing." But it was an improvement just to say he was trying to relax and play around. "Hopefully the rain lets up before we get there."

There was one thing to be said about the ground floor: it didn't have to worry about the rain. "I'll get you a towel once we get there." He wasn't exactly sure where he'd find one, but that was a hurtle he'd jump when he got to it.

"Maybe so, you do seem to have some questionable timing," she gave him a little wink before nodding. "Hopefully, but it doesn't seem like it's going to..." Which was said in a tone that made it obvious that Aerith found the rain unfair. It was kind of unfair too, to just spring up out of nowhere like that.

"Hmm....where are you going to find this mystery towel?"

"I don't know. It's the market. I'm sure someone has...something." It was a stretch, but they were both soaked.

"It's weird, though. Aterat doesn't usually have such unpredictable weather."

"Here's hoping. Or I'll be double disappointed." And he didn't want that, now did he? "I guess we could just go back to my shop." That wasn't quite a date, but at least they'd be able to dry off. She tapped her chin thoughtfully at the comment and gave a nod.

"True. Do you think it's a precursor to something?"

"I'll make sure I find you a towel." And that was a promise, judging from the serious look on his face, because he...did want to get food with her somewhere that wasn't just her shop, or one of their apartments.

"I don't know. Probably." Because they rarely caught a break. "Did you see anything weird, besides the rain?"

"It'd be kinda silly to buy one just for this, don't you think?" Somehow she didn't think they'd really be so lucky as to just randomly find one. Maybe they'd get lucky though. Or maybe she'd dry off more here. There was still hope.

"Probably?" Now why'd have to go and agree like that? "No. Well, kind of....I felt something? Almost like when we were in the train graveyard."

"Yep. Who says it's just for this?" There'd be no reason to discard it, after all, if they found one in the first place.

"The graveyard?" He paused for a moment. "Do you think it was a ghost?"

"I mean...nobody I guess. Maybe we'd get more use out of it eventually. Though...kinda hoping not in another shower like this." Because she wasn't enjoying the wetness.

That got a tiny pause from her and she closed her eyes. "I'm...not sure really. Maybe?"

Edited 2022-07-30 10:14 (UTC)

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