Man, what even is romance? Done for my most excellent broseph, Crim. The spirit of my original request lives on!
Thick dust from nearby construction work mixed with Rude’s sweat as he strode through Edge’s centre plaza. The crowd stirred, nervous mumbles eddying about him; a generation’s superstitions wouldn’t be turned with a simple show of philanthropy - the company remained taboo. The Turk stopped to let a truck by; its Public Safety livery painted over with a children’s mural. He brushed dust impatiently from his lapel pin, desperate to get inside the dry cool of 7th Heaven.
The bell in the door jingled happily, assisted by the rush of hot air invading the cool interior of the bar. Rude allowed himself to let out a quiet sigh, sweat pouring through his shirt. A stern voice called unnaturally,
“Hello! Welcome to seven—”
Tifa leaned against the doorway to the storeroom, her expression impassive. Rude pulled off his sunglasses, taking a cloth from his pocket to clean them off. His eyes wrinkled with a smile, pushing dust into the corner of his eyes. Tifa’s working uniform clung tightly to her; her white tank top was covered in grease stains from the kegs and her skirt rode low, weighed down by her toolbelt and barely held up by her suspenders. She flicked one of her bangs off of her face, slicked down by sweat,
“Not the you I was waiting for,” she said with a smile, “but you’ll do.”
Rude pretended to keep cleaning his glasses,
“Anything I can do to help?”
Tifa barely stifled a giggle,
“You help now? What strange times we live in”
Rude shrugged and moved to lean against the bar,
“It’s a new world order. Hopefully I’ll stick around to see what happens.”
Tifa walked over, her purposeful stride bumping her up against Rude and pushing him onto his heels. She scrunched the front of his jacket with her hands, getting rid of the last of the grease before letting her fingertips brush against Rude’s palms. She spoke firmly,
“What happens next is you’ll help me in the kitchen,” their foreheads bumped softly together, “but first we need a shower.”
annaxmalina
2087
tangentwithtanner
gummygunk
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