FFXIV Misc. Posts

[eightlazylegs]

For Eithyrs related threading.

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[eightlazylegs]

"Was he the short one?" Too bad if Gaius doesn't want to talk about Cid right now, because Estinien's pulling the little booklet from his jacket and handing it off to Gaius. Of course the man can know he looked through it, Estinien wouldn't think to lie about such things.

"Found this among Nero's things. Thought you should have it, or at least decide what to do with it."

The way Gaius speaks to Nero in past tense, Estinien isn't sure if the man is even alive.

[snapandflounce]

"Cid is-- quite short for Garlean, yes," Gaius chuckled softly, remembering all of this with bittersweet fondness. It's like dark chocolate with too much cacao -- it's good, but can sometimes be overpoweringly bitter. "Both of his parents were -- mmm. Small of stature. The Minister of Industry for the Garlean empire, and his beloved wife, an advice columnist for one of the smaller papers in the city."

The photo from Nero's things, though, he just lifts his brows at. "I would leave this here. Nero's time in school was a bitter thing for him, and his rivalry with Cid equally so. They both believe me dead, and I doubt gifts of this nature when they learn otherwise won't be well received."

[eightlazylegs]

"Still. Seems a shame to throw away mementos of more peaceful times, even if they've long since passed." Estinien has nothing to remember his family by; Nidhogg burned their village to the ground. As to his mentor, he remembers him only by the skills Alberic passed to him. Like most dragoons, Alberic kept few possessions and did not expect to leave them to any heirs.

He sticks the book back in his jacket again, and does not say what he plans to do with it. "And if they both still live, that is at least something."

[snapandflounce]

"They do," Gaius said, and for a moment his voice is warm and affectionate, though it evens out. "Nero will likely stab with a screw driver for being in his things, let alone returning something I'm sure he had packed in the back of his closet."

At least Gaius keeps his strange regrets in his desk like a normal person.

[eightlazylegs]

"He's welcome to try. If it was not something he had any interest in, he wouldn't have kept it." He knows little about Nero beyond the tiny scraps he's picked up. Man sounds like an intellectual, so Estinien can't imagine they'd have much to talk about regardless.

"Is there anything in here you've been needing," Estinien asks, trying to change the subject now to something with less dark thoughts. It seems a shame, to have the man dwell on how little he's wanted. (Does he know he's wanted here? Estinien isn't sure.)

[snapandflounce]

"Ammunition, clean smallclothes and a new shirt." Gaius said with a soft exhale, almost a chuckle. "Sleep, warmth."

He reaches out, palm turned up and open. An invitation, given in peace, seeking that warmth. "There are other beds, but-- I would prefer you stayed in mine."

Does Estinien know he's wanted?

[eightlazylegs]

Estinien knows he's one of Gaius's only options, is what he knows. A crust of bread to a starving man can seem like a feast. He knows he would not be so desirable were someone like Aymeric here, or any of Gaius's own people.

That does not mean Estinien won't take full advantage of the situation while it lasts. He takes the hand with a smile and steps through into Gaius's arms, laying his face against the man's cheek. "As would I. It's far warmer there than in mine," he says in his rough, quiet voice.