For better days

.......

Both staff and Scions alike had warned the pair to be careful, and take it easy, but the more warnings they got, the more they had inched along the ledge atop Rowena’s House of Splendor until they were far enough away from the nagging.

So it was there, on a stone ledge overlooking the aetheryte plaza that Mayu and Thancred had gotten comfortable, taking some quiet time for themselves where they sat with their backs together. Thancred, relaxed, eyes closed as his head rested on her shoulder. Mayu, on the other hand, completely engrossed in a novel she had picked up.

Their time was undisturbed and peaceful, until Mayu could hear, and feel, what seemed like a light slumber from her partner. She shifted a little, nudging him with her elbow.

“If you’re going to nap, shouldn’t we go down?”

“You wouldn’t let me fall, would you?”

.......

He waited.

Each moment seemed to stretch longer than the last as he continued to wait for some sort of response from Mayu.

“You wound me”

Thancred heard her chuckle behind him and he shook his head, standing up with a sigh. “I had complete faith in you, too” He outstretched a hand to her, which she gladly took as she pulled herself up.

“Well, let’s be realistic, you’re a bit heavy for me to lift”

Thancred sighed dramatically, fixing her a look. “What a shame. I really looked forward to one day having you-” he suddenly hooked his arms under her legs, carefully supporting her back as he lifted her into his arms “sweep me off my feet”

Mayu had let out a small yelp of surprise when he lifted, but she just scowled at him, tapping the tip of his nose. “I can’t do that from here, but also,” she tapped him on the chest and he put her back down. “Didn’t Krile say you shouldn’t be doing anything like that just yet?”

He rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh and just held his hand out for her as he started making his way back to the stairs, Mayu following closely behind, fingers interlacing with his

There was a small smile on her lips as she gave his hand a small squeeze, and he smiled back at her as he squeezed hers back.

I thought this was interesting. The dance emote we get is obviously hula, and the little tiny bit of lore we get alludes to the goddess Pele and possibly the story of Hi’iaka? I don’t actually dance the hula so I mean, I’m not a great source for this.

From the moment she had first set her eyes on the city, something seemed to pull on her heartstrings. A bit of nostalgia and longing for the place even though she was certain she has never been here before. It just wasn’t possible.

Though …

Her mind wandered, recalling Emet-Selch’s explanation about the Sundering and she wondered if perhaps that’s what caused this strange feeling as she looked upon the city. Walking through the streets and talking with phantoms that once graced this world only pulled harder.

And through all that an unspeakable despair and pain started to creep through her veins. The haunting knowledge that this was a memory and that reality had moved so far away from the vision in front of her broke her heart. Piece by piece came off with each step, a cold realization that this once was.

And the loving preservation of it all only ached more knowing that it was someone’s precious memory, perhaps a way to remember what they felt were the best times of their life.

Or the peaceful moments before their destruction.

Traversing through the streets was one thing, but staring at the flaming entrance to yet another memory of the last days of Amaurot gave Mayu pause.

She wasn’t ready.

Time was running short but she could bear to see more. Seeing the peaceful streets, speaking with the friendly phantoms, though only fragments of a past long forgotten, it filled her with unspeakable grief.

To watch it all fall apart. To see it’s end.

She wasn’t ready.

-------------------

Now comes the real challenge, how many of these can I write that don’t get shippy? so far, the answer is none.

@seaswolchallenge

-----

Every now and then, if one waited for the right moment, you could catch the times in between where the weight of her title would show.

Champion

The title many have bestowed upon her along with their hopes, dreams and wishes for a better tomorrow and the assumption that she should grant all of them. While Mayu certainly appreciated the extra help the Scions put in to make sure she was not overburdened, it was often far easier to simply bear it silently.

Of course, as always, it was easier to hide from some than it was from others.

Having been so engrossed in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the approaching footsteps, or the heavy sigh behind her. It wasn’t until Thancred had plucked the tankard of ale from her hands that she even noticed he was there. Blinking a few times, and flexing her fingers as she noticed the absence of her drink he fixed her with a raised eyebrow as he took a tentative sip from the still full tankard.

“I thought you don’t drink anymore”

Thancred made a bit of a face, noting how warm the liquid had gotten. “Well, I’m not keen on letting you waste it.” He tilted it back again, drinking more of it, grimacing all the while.

“I was going to get to it!”

Thancred just fixed her with another look as he finished it off, setting the tankard down with a notable thunk.

“My drink …”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t have missed that”

“Should I get us something stronger then?” The smile on her face was full of mischief, and he was certain, bad intentions.

But also a blatant attempt at misdirection. “No” Not even her cutest pout was going to change his answer, which she did attempt to no avail.

“... Do you want to talk about it?” he finally asked after a few moments of silence, quietly so as to not let any of the other nearby patrons overhear.

Mayu shook her head. “I want to cry though”

Thancred chuckled a little, smiling apologetically when she fixed him a look, but standing and offering her his hand. “Well, then let’s find you a suitable place for that.”

“I only want it if it’s going to be on your shoulder”

I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing and this seems like a good opportunity to try! I doubt these will be very long since I’m pretty rusty but something is better than nothing!

Thank you @seaswolchallenge for making these!

---------

First morning.

It was amazing how much she realized she missed seeing the morning and the night sky while being on the First. Now, seeing it’s return brought a certain amount of comfort, and yet also yearning.

Or perhaps it was the gentle rising and falling of the chest underneath her head that was causing that. Mayu’s gaze turned from the open window, head and body turning so she could look at the face of the man whose chest was currently her pillow. Feeling her shift, Thancred’s eyes opened, locking eyes with Mayu and giving her a small smile, which she returned.

At this point, neither of them were sure of how much time had passed exactly since they had woken up. They at least recalled seeing the first few rays of light starting to brighten the sky to its current state of fully illuminating the blue sky. It had to have been a couple bells at least as they did, at one point, hear some of the muffled voices of their comrades outside Mayu’s door.

But after last night, and the last few days, the muffled voices faded as they left, choosing to let her rest. And so the couple stayed, quiet, peaceful, counting each breath the other took.

7 years

This was a little tricky because it’s like you have so many options and yet not enough ;;; BUT a Mayu & Thancred attempt was made

the cuteness of this makes me think of this as them when they were younger or something