[ it really isn't nothing, since so much of tifa's experiences have consistently revolved around her appearances, whether it was the boys of her youth who stopped seeing her as simply a friend to play games with once they could recognize attraction or the way her early days in midgar was being hired to help run a steamed buns cart solely because her looks could effectively attract customers. it always became a matter of aiming to prove herself one way or another, to be stronger and faster, to achieve something for herself and then beating that same achievement by doing it even better, to feel some sense of control over herself when so many people didn't seem to care about letting her have that, as if her body somehow belonged to the world.

granted, being in a place like this now only seems to further that challenge, now that so much of tifa's freedoms feel limited, put even further on a spotlit pedestal in regards to her physical appearance. but at least the calm of the red cardinal provides a break from all of that, especially as the conversation with sanji proves to be a satisfying distraction, caught up in the fascination of listening every time he speaks that her mind refrains from wandering too much back towards her worries. ]

A floating restaurant? Really? Like ... in the water or the sky? [ regardless, she gets caught up in imagining it, his passion in speaking about it fairly contagious as it drives her intrigue further within the imagery, her smile matching his softened grin with the assurance of his hopes. ] I guess you never know. We all made it here, right? So, maybe you can come see it sometime. I promise to reserve you a table if you do.

[ not that she knows much of how any of them have been able to cross over, the way she's already learned of different worlds in the short time she's been here. it probably isn't at all possible, but she wouldn't mind having some more customers with a kindness like sanji.

because there's something in him she doesn't see too often at all, the way he seems to almost glow as he answers about his dream, the casual smooth gentleman now transformed into something of an excited child, his eyes and fingers all attentive now to the description like he's almost all too eagerly been waiting for any chance to speak about it. and where she comes from, dreams tend to be a rarity, most of them having been ruined by shinra's destruction of homes and smothering of hopes. listening to sanji, she finds herself just as transfixed, despite everything he sees seeming like pure imagination. but just as anytime she hears words of a dream and hope from a friend, her heart swells with the endearment of it so much that it's more than enough to make her want to believe too.

without a thought, her hand reaches out, fingers resting light over the jacket sleeve of his forearm like a subconscious gesture of protest. ] Oh, no, it's not stupid at all! [ she shakes her head with the reassurance, lips returning to a light warm smile, with a quiet laugh. ] Really, the way you talk about it, I'd really want to see it too. And it's ... well, it's pretty beautiful that you're holding onto it. The world never really makes that easy. [ she sighs softly, her smile carrying a trace of her own somberness even as she aims to be encouraging. ] If you really want to talk about silly, my friends and I at home are trying to save an entire planet. Not sure how far we'll get on that dream, but — accomplish them or die trying, right?