Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties are mine, as are Duke and McCallister. I think I'm creating my own brand of fluff between these two; what do you think?
..:-X-:..
055 – Ignorance is Bliss
"Ugh." Tifa's noise of disgust made Leon looked up.
She was flipping through letter after letter from their mail slot, and from the permanent look of horror on her face, it wasn't pretty. She looked over at him and held up the letter that warranted the just-vomited-a-little-in-my-throat expression.
"Do you read this crap?" She flapped the letter.
"Electric bill? Unfortunately." He chided flatly.
"No…This…This…" She inhaled. "PR letters that made their way to our personal address. I mean, I've read most of these…They think you're emo and I'm a lesbian."
He blinked, "Really?"
"Yeah, because chasing Cloud all the way around the damn planet gave a real homosexual vibe." She groaned, skimming another letter. "Hm, apparently you're an inefficient leader and have no social skills, and I…" She skimmed further, "am insane for living with you and not…'hitting that'."
He snorted, "I just stopped reading that stuff after someone tried to mail me anthrax."
"This is just…madness." She gestured to the multiple letters. "It's not fanmail because half of them hate us. It's not hatemail because the other half wants—" She read off another letter, "to 'lick chocolate off your—' This is nasty." She threw the letter on the table.
Leon was almost amused at how worked up she was getting. "If it bothers you, don't read it."
Tifa looked at him incredulously, "Does this NOT bother you? One girl wrote that the Gunblade is huge because your…because other things aren't."
Sighing, Leon stood and walked over to the table, sliding his hand across the top and shucking all of the letters into the trash can at the end of the table.
"Save yourself the lost sleep and just don't read it. Trust me." He said firmly.
Tifa eyed the waste basket and shuddered.
"What?" Leon asked.
Tifa cast a quick Fire spell to burn the letters. "Just seeing them made me feel dirty and violated."
"Welcome to my world." He sighed, getting back to work.
..:-X-:..
056 – Lobster
Tifa reached the apartment and staggered inside, immediately slumping over the back of the couch.
"You would not BELIEVE the day I had." She groaned, "Just when I think paperwork can't be more annoying…The Council decides to start reconstruction on the Great Maw early and now I—Why are you so red?" She lifted an eyebrow at Leon.
He was slumped in his seat, looking thoroughly peeved. His face, neck, and arms were the deepest shade of scarlet she had ever seen.
"Six hours in Agrabah deserts." He grumbled, moving as little as possible.
Tifa straightened up off the couch and tsked. "Haven't you ever heard of sunscreen? Or skin cancer? You bonehead."
Leon grimaced and tilted his head back, closing his eyes. "Don't taunt me when I'm in pain."
She could practically see the heat coming off the scorched skin and felt an all-too-familiar empathy for the discomfort and exhaustion that sunburns caused. Tutting, she pulled off her shoes.
"Well, I don't feel sorry for you at all." She hmphed, "You look like the Kool Aid Man."
He saluted her with a raised middle finger and she chuckled despite herself.
..:-X-:..
057 - Worry
When Tifa became aware again, the first coherent thought she had was 'owww…'
The last thing she remembered was hearing the Crimson Jazz Heartless in the Bailey loading up, all four of them simultaneously turning bright red as they unleashed Firaga spells at her. She thought she'd dodged it, but by the way her body was aching, she hadn't.
…That also might explain the smell of burnt skin and plastic…plastic?
Dammit, it smelled like a hospital…She cringed at this realization and what it meant, forcibly prying open one eye. The room was dimly lit: dull walls, shuttered windows, generic paintings on the walls. Crap. She shifted slightly and tried to get a good look at herself, evaluate the damage, but the movement sent rakes of pain across the skin of her arm, shoulder, and neck. A small moan escaped.
Something moved just outside of her line of sight and she turned her head before remembering that motion was bad. She hissed but blinked furiously to keep her vision clear. Her mild stirring had apparently jerked Leon out of whatever zoned-out state he'd been in.
"Hey." He blurted, like he'd just woken up or something, by the naked worry in his eyes.
"Hey." She reciprocated, voice hoarse and much weaker than she would have liked. "How long—"
"A few hours." He answered quickly, falling back into that default lax expression.
Oh, well that wasn't TOO bad…considering…Tifa saw the angry red burns and bruises across the left side of her body, where she'd taken the brunt of the attack. It looked a lot worse than it felt, really. They must have hooked her up on the good stuff.
"Sorry." She said after a beat, flexing her fingers slowly to regain the feeling in them.
Leon blinked at her, "For what?"
"Just…" Tifa winced again before continuing. "…if I scared you…I thought I ducked enough—"
"I wasn't worried." He sat back in what he obviously thought was a nonchalant way.
Filthy liar, she thought, I know you too well to fall for that crap.
"You're so full of shit." She grinned.
He didn't respond to that beyond a flat look.
"When can I get out of here?" Tifa asked, looking around the small hospital room.
"Tomorrow…You know you're a real jerk sometimes?" He pointed out.
Ha, that was the pot calling the kettle black, she thought.
"Yeah, yeah, you're still full of shit." She retorted, relaxing back into the pillows.
