kingdomcomes | It's like christmas in july except just it's cold and everyone is stressed and there are no presents

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It's like christmas in july except just it's cold and everyone is stressed and there are no presents

Who: [OPEN] Aymeric and you!
What: Catch-all for non-participants and early losers in the fuckening, but everyone is welcome! Come gloat if you like.
When: All day.
Where: In the guard barracks, outside the castle, Yenh's hut, the inn.
Warnings: Will update as needed!

I. In and Around the Castle
[For the entirely-too-manyth in a row now the weather has been getting unrelentingly colder. So much so that he could barely think as he did his duties. It would do no good to lose his work or the possible trust he had earned with his diligence over this, but the temptation to abandon his post became increasingly difficult. During breakfast, if you are a fellow guard, Aymeric will be trying to get your attention. Maybe there is something they can do about their uniforms...? If you are not a guard, he will try to catch your attention anyway. He has requests to make in his miserable state.]

II. The Village
[Once his terrible, miserable shift is over he will run around the village with increasingly conspicuous supplies. First a couple blankets, then some buckets, and eventually he will be rolling a wooden bath down a road. He comes to Yenh's shack and knocks on the door with his arms very much full.]

III. The Inn
[Much later now, he finds himself at his familiar watering hole. Sure, it cost a lot more than drinking with the other guards in the castle, but the illusion of getting out of the Mistress' reach was well worth it. Here you will see him finally changed out of his guard uniform, but back in the clothing he arrived in. Terribly ironic that he was able to acquire some new clothes the very week it was too cold to wear any of them. He's back to looking very over-dressed and out of place. If you sit near him, he will offer you a drink and a warm, weary smile.]

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[She cringes, carefully working her thumbs in deep along the tendons and places she knows exhaustion accumulates in the joint of the knee.]

He is Estinien. The man has seldom held any close relationship with joy or relaxation.

[Yet, he must know that. She carefully delves deeper. Conversationally, not massage-wise. She's already doing that.]

... did his words sting?

[He lets out a shallow breath.] Yes.

We traded insults until I tried to ask him something personal. I tried to provoke some truth from him and failed that, too. Surely he will forgive me soon enough, yet the way he discusses intimacy has always depressed me. It's not that I don't understand why he feels the way he does, I just I wish he could open his heart, at least to himself.

[he groans low, hips raising as she hits the joint. Guard duty in the freezing cold had stiffened his limbs more than he realized.]

[Her own breath catches, albeit for different reasons than Estinien. Yenh keeps her eyes focused on the task and conversation at hand.]

[The contents of his words really come as no surprise at all. For as much as Aymeric had never hesitated to do his duty to protect Ishgard, including in trying to kill Estinien while he was possessed by Nidhogg, she has also noticed the way the Lord Commander regards him.]

I'd like to help, then, if you'll allow it. Whether it is by aiding you with your longing, or with Estinien in the hopes of opening him up.

Or both, mayhap.

["Aiding with your longing"]

"Aiding with my longing?"

[He peers over his shoulder at her, a quizzical look on his face.]

Forgive me if this isn't the case, but, are you propositioning me?

[ She tilts her head to meet his eyes, feeling her face heat up from both his question and the full view she is afforded. ]

I- I could be. It is possible that I am. Though, if that is too inappropriate for this outsider and miqo'te to offer to someone of your station, then I am certainly not propositioning you. After all, we could- just talk through it.

[ Smooth. ]

[A few things hit him at once. He feels bad for pressing her like that- He sits up properly to face her, dragging his leather shorts to cover himself as he does. Not quite quick enough to prevent her from seeing everything, though.]

Perhaps it is wise for each of us to back away from this line of thought. I fear I've been too forward, too loose. I thank you for the ministrations, however. I am feeling much better.

[It is said cooly as he gives her a clean exit. The fault lays with him, clearly. It's alright to back out!]

It would be a grave abuse of my station to make the Warrior of Light feel pressured to take any part in this.

[ Speaking of barbed words. ]

[ Not that she thinks he means to do harm. It's clear he's trying to spare her, in fact, but it is poor comfort when she feels humiliation for letting herself get carried away. Propositioning the Lord Commander—what was she thinking? ]

[ Yenh bows her head, albeit not quickly enough to betray her own privacy. A brief view of genitals is traded for a brief view of humiliation. ]

Then, it is fortuitous that I was not suggesting any such thing.

[ I am Eorzea's blade and shield, she reminds herself, as she starts hastily repacking everything that lead her to propose something so mortal and common. ]

[He looks at her for a moment, feeling stumped. Had he misread her? He fumbles in the awkwardness, his eyes landing on the liquor that he had brought with him. He takes it up only to uncork it and hand it to her.]

Let us drink, instead, to your victory. And let us drink to the hope that you will have many more. [he gives her the most charming grin he can muster, yet it falls too quickly. He feels a pang of guilt, however. He never meant to humiliate her by turning her down. He knows what effect he might have on her by shutting her down so coldly, yet. How could they approach this?]

Listen... Yenh. I am unused to this. [He makes a sort of sweeping gesture, indicating everything.] I am unused to being stripped of my power and position; to be a common person. Like as not you may feel similarly. I do not wish to be unapproachable to you. I am not the Lord Commander, not here. Would you have offered such a thing if I had never carried my title?

[ So close to being off the hook for her indiscretion. The bottle is on her lips as he returns to the subject, so she is at least afforded an extra moment to think about her answer without it seeming too weird. ]

You are a kind and beautiful man, Aymeric. It comes as a shock to me if you are not offered such experiences by all who meet you.

[ Yenh looks down inside the bottle for more inspiration. ]

But even if it were only a matter of serving you... I am as much the champion of smallfolk as I am of the noble and powerful. The Warrior of Light does all that is asked of her.

[He bites his lip as she offers some of the sweetest words he's heard in a good, long while as a controversial politician. Aside from the sweetly spoken words accompanying the leering that he had grown used to in recent weeks.

He considers her words, trying to move quickly past the image of her standing among lalafell, looking rather tall for a change.]

I meant more... If we were just a man and a woman. Without the pulling tides of power and controversy. I know that you would do anything for anyone as the Warrior of Light, but... What if you weren't the Warrior of Light?

[He realizes what he's saying while so, so naked. Yet there is no elegant way to remedy this, so he simply pulls some blanket over his lap.]

Edited 2017-06-26 18:51 (UTC)

[ Such a direct question. The only way to answer it properly is in kind. Not that it's easy to be so forthright with someone like him. She is so used to speaking properly and politely to him that it's awkward to shift into the tone she reserves for fellow peasantry and commoners. ]

Then I would have invited you to my bed much, much sooner.

[His face is the picture of relief.]

I never thought it would be so refreshing to hear such words laid so plainly. For all of Estinien's blunt nature, he can parry words as well as any Ishgardian.

[He lowers his gaze, smiling.]

Do you think my troubles can simply be relieved with substitution? [His own words almost stun him as they fall out of his mouth. He reaches for the bottle, plucking it gently from her hands and taking a swig.]

I hardly wish to imply anything, but you seem knowledgeable in this area.

Edited 2017-06-26 19:06 (UTC)

[ It's a surprise to her to hear such a switch in tone. But it relieves her greatly—if they are back to Business, then she can at least carry on without withering under her own humiliation. ]

[ She tries not to lapse back into formality. Not yet, anyway. ]

Well... that shall depend on your own desires and needs. I am a poor substitute for the real thing, but I would not at all be offended should you think entirely of him as I pleasured you.

[ It is weird to talk to him like this, but here we are. ]

Oh, no. No! Mine apologies, I mean not to deny you. Simply put, it isn't like that with Estinien. I merely want him to recognize himself as a man beneath his helm. I... How improper to think about him while I... With you...

[He trails off, face flush anew with thoughts of the evening prior. He shakes his head.]

And would it not be disrespectful to you?

[ She's a little glad about the direct talk, weird as it may be with Aymeric. Dancing around is something she is more used to and less wants to do. ]

Only if I weren't offering myself in service. Plainly put, I wouldn't mind.

[ Yenh smiles at him, scooting in a little closer. Not intimately close. More "can reach the bottle easier" close.] Are you certain that isn't the case? I swore that I detected longing beneath your natural comcerns for your friend.

There is little in this world you would mind if it were asked of you, isn't there?

[He needs no additional prompting to pass the bottle. It warms him all the way down, makes this easier in its own little way. He rolls his shoulders and stretches his neck before he settles into a more lounging sit, far from the straight backed posture he was taking just moments ago.]

I... haven't allowed myself to think on such things. I never had the time nor the luxury. I fear it would be nothing but a burden for Estinien. He fails to answer the simplest lines of inquiries! I asked him where his attractions lay, yet he would not tell me. I think he might not know.

[ Offering one of her famous nods in response to his first inquiry, she listens with care, her tail twitching slightly as she contemplates his assessment of Estinien. Seems about right. ]

I should be more surprised if he did. I've seldom met men so consumed by the desire for revenge, but when I do, the needs of the flesh are always among the needs of the mind to fall to the wayside.

[ Yenh licks her lips. ] But with Nidhogg's passing, should he not have begun to regain his humanity?

[He folds his hands, looking off for a moment.]

I have a terrible and strange suspicion. His helm is not the blood-drenched red that it was last I saw it. I had thought: perhaps he cleaned it. Yet all of his armor is clean, as well. It was tainted, was it not? Nidhogg's terrible magic soaked into the armor in an irredeemable way. He speaks as if Nidhogg yet lives. He speaks of Lady Ysayle as if she is alive. I thought perhaps he had lost his mind, but I don't think that's quite it.

[He looks at her, worriedly. He seems unable to speak the conclusion. It is too strange.]

What do you make of this?

[She opens her mouth and reels in surprise. The details add up to the first time they faced Nidhogg together, yet that was moons ago. Before he was possessed, before they knew about the second eye's whereabouts, before all of it.]

[Yenh shakes her head.]

It cannot be- he speaks of our first venture to Nidhogg's lair together. Yet you know as well as I, how much has transpired since our first journey to end the war... but I've no idea what other explanation there could be.

He may truly be from an earlier time.

[he places a hand over his mouth, muffling his words without thinking]

I think you're right. I'm not sure how, but how does any of this make sense?

[his hand shifts to his hair, pushing his waves up from his hair line for a moment.]

More information that I know not what to do with. Do we tell him? Should I continue to feign ignorance? [he lets out a small, frustrated noise and makes a move for their little bottle of alcohol.]

Surely I cannot keep up such a farce forever.

[ Yenh hands it over gladly. She has had some experience with timey-wimey bullshit, and suspects Aymeric needs another drink more badly thank she. ]

Would he even believe us?

[ At once, she starts wondering how to go about convincing him. ]

No.

[swig]

Not without the most ironclad possible evidence. Yet what evidence could there be? It is not as if we could conjure Nidhogg's head.

[grimly] Nor his eyes.

I am truly at a loss. The events were so fantastical, I'm not sure that I would believe them had I not been there myself. I wonder if telling him would bring him peace— considering the details...

[ In silence, Yenh tries to think of what else- if anything else- could possibly serve to convince Estinien that his vengeance was completed. ]

[ After a dozen nonsensical ideas, one finally occurs to her. ]

We are granted a small boon for participation in the contest, are we not?

Count Edmont once interviewed me concerning a book he was writing about the Dragonsong War. If we could somehow get a copy... t'would be our best chance at successfully convincing Estinien.

If Estinien didn't think it foolishness or trickery. [he lets out a breath. He was just full of sighs today, wasn't he?]

Yet I believe it to be our most prudent method. Yet, if there is something that you want for yourself, then this may wait. The Mistress is clearly capable of conjuring whatever she pleases at any moment. If there is aught more prudent that you desire?

[He takes another little swig, the world shifting ever so slightly. He passes the bottle.]

If you believe it a worthy use, then I would be happy to receive this object from you.

[ She hesitates and nods. This was a bit trickier... ]

To be truthful... I was going to beg for her to restore the Blessing of Light.

[ Crossing her arms, she tilts her head and gazes again to the fire. ]

Yet Estinien's peace of mind is invaluable. He has suffered enough—and still more than he knows. Yet even if he does believe the contents of the book, he would likely taunt me for wasting such a chance. [ It is now her turn to heave a sigh. ] Gods.

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