dualislogs | ( OPEN )

WHO: Tifa and open + two closed sections
WHAT: Tifa explores, meets her roommate, and visits the forge
WHERE: around the city, Dorm room 302, the forge
WHEN: early Sept, before vaccine event things
WARNINGS: will update with any relevant ones

exploration - OPEN

After finding Cloud and Vincent, Tifa takes on a goal of exploration. She'd gotten the idea of the place and a feel of how frustrating trying to get anywhere is. But she hasn't had any real experience outside of her arrival. So she wants to try to find out what she can, learn more about this city and the inhabitants, and hopefully learn her way around the city as much as is possible.

Places of note are the park, where she takes a second time to look around. She'd been so busy trying to find Cloud that she hadn't really looked around all that much. Now, she wants to see it. She also walks into Koenig's Fitness and Recreation, surprised by the gym's looks. Wearing her full gloves and arm guards, she probably looks like someone to be concerned about, but she lifts a hand in greeting and chooses to hang back until she figures out what she can really do here.

If anyone catches her attention, she is willing to talk and get to know people along her way.

room 302 - CLOSED to sharon

Overwhelmed has been the state of Tifa's mind for quite a while now and her introduction to this city hasn't really helped that much. Cloud's presence has been the most stabilizing force since she got here, but finding out that his memories contradict hers yet again keeps tearing at that stability. She hardly knows what to believe as far as Nibelheim; having to hold back so much else is really beginning to take its toll and she hasn't even been here all that long.

She manages to find her dorm room easily enough and after taking a few deep breaths, she presses her hand to the biometric lock system. As the door unlocks to let her in, she pushes it open and takes a step inside. Her eyes take in the layout of the room before the silhouette of someone else inside. Probably her roommate.

"Hi," she says, gently closing the door behind her. "My name's Tifa. I guess I'm your new roommate."

Firecross Metalworks - open to anyone who would be at the forge

The last stop on Tifa's list is the forge Cloud told her about. It takes her a day or so to make her way over there, but eventually, she can be found making her way inside. Glancing through the bowels of the junkyard, she tilts her head, wondering if Cloud really has the right place. It isn't like him to try to play a practical joke on her.

"Cloud?" she calls, making her way further inside.

Eventually, she finds one of the training areas. They look well-maintained, or at least maintained enough, and people seem to be using them. She does her best to stick to the outskirts, but not even that really saves her. She turns at just the wrong moment, just in time to spot someone twirling a weapon in her general direction - whether it's a pole or a sword or a buster sword, she can't tell. She reacts instinctively, shifting her feet to take her weight evenly as she lifts both arms into the shape of 'X' in front of her head, far enough out to keep whatever the weapon is from hitting her. Gritting her teeth, she digs her heels in, not about to let whatever or whoever this is take a chunk out of her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tifa hadn't intended to make the other woman get up, but she gives her head a gentle shake in response to Heather's words. Honestly, this is nothing compared to what she's used to. At least it's just two women sharing a room instead of the huge group they usually have. Controlled chaos with that group was always putting it mildly. Not that Tifa would begrudge any of them, but this is something of a breath of fresh air, even if having another female roommate makes her think rather forcefully of Aerith.

She misses Aerith so much. Every day.

"It's okay," Tifa says, forcing words past the exhausted lump in her throat. "This is clean compared to what I'm used to." Taking a few steps forward, she makes her way over to the untouched side of the room, turning to sit on the edge of the bed. Once there, she starts carefully taking off her gloves, making sure the colored materia fitted into the slots on her weapon still stay in their slots. "On the road, we all shared one or two rooms. The four boys, three girls, one robotic cat on a stuffed moogle, and one... other." Whatever Nanaki's species really is. "So just having one roommate is a whole lot better."

This also means that she can probably sleep through Heather's movements if she needs to, or at least that she won't jump awake at every sound. Just the important ones.

"I just got here about a day ago, so I don't really know a lot about this place yet." Just what she'd been told when she woke up and what Cloud added on. Still not enough, not really.

Tifa looks drained and Heather can't blame her. The first couple of days for her had been mentally exhausting; it'd been a lot of information, culture shock, and a distinct sort of lonely ache. Even now, she yearns for home, though home for her is more a person than a place.

"Is there anything you want to know?," she offers after a pause of hesitation. The materia in her gloves catches her eye but she assumes the colored gems are nothing more than an accessory,"I can't promise I know everything, only been here a couple of months, but I can try."

If not, Heather's got plenty of advice for getting by within the city, including the best time to hit the kitchens (surprise, it's when there's less people up).

Tifa has lived with the ache of homesickness for years at this point and the unfortunate reality is that the place she misses the most no longer exists. Home was burned to the ground and the entire population slaughtered four years ago. Home doesn't exist anymore and she aches for it and the people she lost. So having one more place taken away and another added on... she is drained and that probably isn't going to go away anytime soon.

"Cloud kind of gave me the political rundown," she says tiredly. "But if you have any suggestions on how to survive the days, I'll listen. I still need to figure out what to do with myself while I'm here."

"Good, I hate having to talk politics." pass on some gratitude to Cloud on her part.

Her expression quickly becomes thoughtful, cherry picking the information she thinks might help most. Finally, she sighs,"The city can be kind of a bitch to navigate, almost as if it's always changing. One time a street will lead you a bar, the next a smoke shop. The network, our phones, are definitely being watched, lots of censorship."

Now, on ways to kill time.

"Luckily, there are a ton of places to get work. I got a bar-tending job in less than a week," with zero experience. Lying gets you places,"and it sometimes seems as if every place is hiring. I mean, if you want more than the measly 200 duos you get a month."

"Sounds great," she says with a resigned sigh. Why is she not surprised to hear that everything is being monitored? Everything she hears just reeks more and more of Shinra. She'll just have to be careful.

"So if I want to live and not just survive, get a job. Well, if there are bars hiring, I can do that. I ran a bar back home."

Her brow lifts up at Tifa's response; she hadn't expected her to be a bartender (a musician, maybe, given her appearance and mention of cramped traveling),"You won't have to look hard to find a place. There are a ton of bars and clubs all over the city and given that everyone seems to be pretty happy to pass the time drinking, they could always use another bartender."

In fact, there are a fair amount of entertainment venues in a wide variety throughout the city. Heather often wonders if it's all there to distract or placate them.

"I'll have to hit you up for tips, sometime. I'm still getting used to the job myself."

( OPEN )

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