Old Friends, New Problems // [Cloud]

[Tifa Lockhart]

Usually, pubs didn't close until very late, especially in a city like Midgar. Tifa, however, had a different standard for shooing the drunks out of her place so she could get some well-deserved rest; at eleven every night, she either told them to leave or kicked them out forcibly, depending on how much they protested or got mad. Those who decided to try to stay longer by picking a fight usually ended up being dumped in the middle of what was now a paved road. Apparently, someone in Shin-Ra had decided they would make things better in the Slums, and now a lot more of the rubble and junk from the upper city had been cleared away (Probably to be used to finish construction on the last plate) making the place a lot more open and... frankly, cleaner. Even the 7th Heaven was rather shiny looking. Although, that may have been a result of her paying for a complete expansion and overhaul.

Today was a different day, though. The fourth anniversary of that day they'd defeated Sephiroth and stopped him from nuking the planet. It was also four years since Cloud had started staying around her pub and helping her out by running a delivery service with his motorcycle. He seemed to have disappeared yet again a few days ago (So far as she could remember) himself. Tifa had been worried in the back of her head that something like the incident from two years ago was happening again, but she had generally been putting her work first in her head. Today with no work, there wasn't much to do besides relax and think, maybe watch some of Shin-Ra's public broadcasts... which were, surprisingly, a lot better than she remembered them being.

It was at that point, sitting on the patron side of her own bar and swirling a straw around in a glass of soda, left hand holding her chin up as she stared at the TV, that she heard footsteps coming up the small flight of stairs out front. She took a peek over her shoulder-- remembering a second afterwards that she'd gotten an actual door and not an old-timey saloon door-- and called out to... whoever it was. "Sorry, we're closed today. If you wanted to rent a room, you're still too late."

[Cloud Strife]

The journey had been long and filled with new people; he had learned a few things about the other worlds on his way to. However nothing compared to the feeling of laying eyes upon Midgar, seeing the city he had come to call home still standing. As he walked the streets of the slums, he didn't even need to think about it his feet just knew exact way to where he wanted to go. 7th Heaven was the only bar Cloud spent hours in, and it wasn't for a drink either. As he entered the sector Seven, the feeling of relief to see everything just as he remembered it was slightly overwhelming. He wouldn't tell anyone but as he had travel to make his way home, there had been a slightly fear at the back of his mind that if he found Midgar would it still be the same place he knew.

Once again his feet began to guide him without thinking, passing by all sorts of people some he recognized and some he had never seen before. A drunk leaning on one of the buildings complain about the bar closing caught his attention, the drunk grumbled and whimpered about being forcedly removed from the bar. A small smile tugged at the blonde’s lip that was always good to hear that the bar was still run by that feisty brunette he knew so well. Cloud soon found himself ascending the stairs to the bar; the soft creak of wood would clearly give him away. As expected an all to familiar voice soon came from within the building, most people would turn and leave out of fear of one of the bar owners beatings. The door was pushed open and cloud took a single step into the bar "I didn't know I had to rent my own room Tifa".

Black sunglasses were removed from his face, that small smiles his friends only saw had graced his face. Bright blue eyes landed on the brunette, her reactions were always something to see and be careful of you never knew when she might decide you deserve a punch.

[Tifa Lockhart]

When Tifa heard the door behind her open anyways, she spun around on her chair with a frustrated expression, thinking that it was just another drunk that thought he could wander in despite the owner saying the place was closed. That look quickly changed to one of surprise when that same old quiet voice and ridiculous hair announced her old friend's return. She stared, stunned for a moment, before giving a big grin and hopping out of her chair. "You're back! I was starting to think you'd run off to parts unknown to brood about something," She said, chuckling at her own joke and giving Cloud a hug. He'd been gone for a while... but she had heard from a lot of new patrons that people from all over had ended up teleporting around the world somehow. Without that fancy motorcycle, him getting back from wherever he'd been must have been difficult.

"But I'm glad you're back, Cloud. So tell me all about it; I've been hearing from a lot of people that the world's been messed up or... something like that. I'll bet getting back here was an adventure, huh?" Tifa asked, returning to her seat and stirring the soda with her straw once more. A boredom thing, but it made her remember that her friend may or may not have been thirsty. "Ah... And you want something to drink? Plenty of stuff available... but you knew that."

[Cloud Strife]

The brunette’s stunned expression let Cloud know she wasn't expecting him; it was nice to see that he could still get those sorts of reactions from her. A small smile tugged at his lips when she spoke, he had spent weeks traveling unknown lands all the while just trying to get home and now he was finally here. "I woke up in some barren wasteland Tifa, trust me it made Midgar look like some sort of wonderland". That was no lie the place he had awoken had been avoid of pretty much all life, even the earth had looked drained of all life.

A gloved hand rose up to remove black sunglasses from his face, bright blue eyes looked around the bar he knew all too well. Everything was just as he remembered, again he was grateful he didn't know if he could handle coming home to find everything different then he remembered. "More than we could ever imagined, its more messed up then one of Shinra's plans" as he spoke the blonde made his way over to the bar, taking one of the middle bar stools at the bar as his seat. "Been looking forward to one of your drinks, not a bar like this anywhere in all of the places I've been".

"So what do you want to hear about first" explain everything he had seen would be pointless, instead he would let her ask the questions that way she could learn what she wanted to know and Cloud could avoid explaining more things than need be.