Aeris knocked on the door and waited, her stomach in knots. She was merely here to return Tifa's clothes and pick up her own. She was not going to try and get a read on Tifa's feelings towards her. No way. Yesterday a pleasing spark of attraction, a sense the other girl might be into her as well. Before Aeris introduced her new friend (the one she thought was a damsel in distress and actually wound up saving Aeris) to the rest of the group. Before she discovered Tifa and Cloud sort of knew each other.
Well. Cloud recognised Tifa, utterly relieved she was alive. The reveal put Tifa into a more defensive posture, something about her responses a little off as Cloud waxed lyrical about not having seen her in five years. Not since the fire. And that was why Tifa's name bothered Aeris. Cloud's friend - the one he met up with in Nibelheim before Sephiroth torched it. The one he was sure had died. The one Jessie had borne an uncanny resemblance to in disguise when she found Cloud barely coherent near the train station in Sector Seven.
The presence of Tifa seemed to split Cloud's attention; he and Jessie had some strange connection neither was entirely able to articulate - part of whatever possessed Jessie to try and sneak into Don Corneo's mansion leading to her meeting with Aeris. But now he focused on Tifa, so pleased he could see her again. As guarded as Tifa remained, she related a brief corroborating version of the same events - with a coda revealing her awakening in the resort town with little idea of how she got there. No home for her to go back to; no desire to cross the sea to either of Shinra's strongholds.
It was possible meeting Tifa was a bad thing. For Cloud anyway; some long conversation between him and Jessie in a low voice in the hallway outside the shared room last night. They were still crammed into the same bed this morning when Aeris snuck out and made her way back here, Tifa's clothes neatly folded and washed. What was she hoping from this? Not something she was about to admit - for a stranger met only yesterday. And for whom the presence of Cloud was distracting.
Aeris straightened up as the door clicked. Tifa blinked at her, toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, scratching vaguely at something high under her shirt. "Oh, hey," she muttered around the toothbrush and grinned. She darted away from the door, gargled and spat somewhere out of sight of the door.
"I brought your clothes back," Aeris replied, keeping her feet in the hall as she leant a little way into the condo.
"Thanks." Tifa rushed back out of one room and into another. A mechanical clunk and a muttered curse floated out. "You, er, didn't have to come so soon." She stuck her head out of another room. "Your clothes are still drying."
"Oh, that's okay. I can come back later." Or she could invite her to breakfast, or lunch, or dinner. Or ask her to show her around the town or- Anything. "Thank you again. For yesterday."
Tifa blinked. "It's fine. Glad you're okay. Hey-" She frowned. "How long are you in Costa del Sol?"
No specific time; they were resting up mid-journey with no specific destination in mind as yet. Following clues to Sephiroth. They could not stay too long for fear of losing him, but neither did they yet have any idea of where he now was. "Ah, not sure. I think soon?" What did she have to lose? "A bit longer anyway. And after yesterday, I still don't know my way around the town that well. Are you busy today? I mean; is there any chance that you could show me the sights or something?"
Agonising pause as Tifa considered. "Sure." She grinned again. "You and the rest or just you?"
"Just me." Aeris shifted her feet. "Everyone else got a chance while I was sleeping - and while you were rescuing me."
Tifa nodded. "Sounds good. Give me, like, half an hour to get cleaned up and I'll show you whatever you want."
"As long as that won't interfere with your job."
"Nah. Not like I work set hours," Tifa replied.
Aeris chuckled. "Allows for a lot of freedom."
Tifa smiled and nodded. "What do you do out of interest? Aside from trying to rescue people and your current quest?"
"Believe it or not, I used to sell flowers." Aeris waited for the exclamation, but it did not come.
"Do you like flowers?"
Aeris frowned. "Yes?"
"Ever seen the ones underwater?" Tifa shook her head. "What am I asking. You don't know how to swim."
"I think I'd like to learn." Aeris cocked her head to one side. "Underwater flowers?"
Tifa grinned. "Maybe not like you're imagining, but- I'll show you. And we can try at least get you some swimming basics sorted out."
A thrill in her stomach now; Tifa was going to show her something new. "I'd like that."