Swallowtail Solum

         There’s a startle at the mention of his name; content in his unnoticed existence placed beside her as they both worked. So, she had taken notice of him–well it wasn’t entirely shocking she had said naught until now, not was he really trying to draw attention to himself. Sitting side by side eyes ever focused on their work was hardly an unusual sight for the two bookworms.          This time, however, he found it hard to not look at the Au Ra from the corner of his eye here and there– watching her and her work between his own inattentive annotating. It was impossible to ignore the occasional breeze from a passerby that would waft the smell of herbs and dark tea that always brought images of her to his mind. Or how she had just the faintest smudge of ink on her cheek that made her serious face all the more hilariously adorable.                            “Ah, yes. Of course.”           Alphinaud had nearly forgot she just asked something of him with the distraction her merely being around provided. As to not raise any suspicions he all too quickly moves the unused bottle over to her. This was just another day, nothing was unusual.           His outward calmed demeanor was a hard clash against his own inner hyper focus on the woman next to him. How could he not study her hair cascading beautifully over her shoulder when she leans forward to fervently scribble out a new idea or recipe, veiling her face with pale purple locks! It was too easy to be swayed in to ogling her for too long– she was a world saver, wasn’t she? This was absolutely, positively, normal. She, by all means, was an exquisite attention drawer that even he was not immune to–today was just an …extra weak day on his part.            Safe to say that his writing at lost its aim and focus long ago and was now reduced to absent notes to at least look busy in hopes of staying beside Felurian. Should she choose to get up and leave and break him of his enchantment he wouldn’t complain but, for right now… he would be indulging as much as possible.

Muttering a quick thanks as a chain of thoughts popped into her head, Fel continued jotting notes in the leather-bound log before they could fade from her mind. She continued her routine with an almost rhythmic quality— a silent pause as she read. Pages flip. The tink of the ink well as she tapped her quill head against its opening. Dulled scratching against parchment as she scribbled. 

She had noticed Aphinaud seemed rather distracted lately— the Scion’s sapphire gaze was often in her direction, brief but quite frequent. Perhaps he had a rather interesting idea, but was hesitant to share it with her? Fel knew she could sometimes be swept away with her work, but she wasn’t that intimidating, was she? 

Finally setting down the waterfowl feather, Fel tucked a loose strand of hair behind her horn. The Auri took a moment to stretch, her arms and legs extended out in front of her, a sigh let out as she relaxed them once again. A black smudge on her index finger caught her attention, and the Warrior of Light froze as the realization of where that came from dawned on her. As if to reject the idea that she had ink on her face, she reached up and touched her cheek in front of her horn again, bringing her hand before her with yet another dark streak. 

Well, that’s embarrassing. She definitely wasn’t intimidating now. 

Taking a small handkerchief from her pockets, she casually swept it across her cheek, hoping to remove any of the residual pigment. Fel cleared her throat, facing Alphinaud as she absentmindedly continued the same process with her dark- tinged finger. Surprisingly, her unease was well-hidden.

Alisaie blinked, clearly the idea not really having been considered much. “My current garments were made by Tataru, so I suppose not,” she admitted. “I have chosen my own traveling clothes, but I don’t claim to know much about actual fashion - especially for here in Eorzea.”

Just as she was tempted enough to finally pull out a cookie, Felurian spoke up once again and her attention returned to the Au Ra. “No, I didn’t take you as one who cares as much about fashion as she does alchemy. …Royals? Is that so?” Out of all the people to pick to say that to, she was chosen? The idea was mind boggling, considering how things were even in Sharlayan. The corners of her mouth twisted a bit in an attempt to not laugh, feeling that the other woman would think she was laughing at her directly.

…Oh.

The expression on Alisaie’s face grew more flat as Fel explained what was clearly the greater part of her motivations to get her to try a different ribbon. “Oh, am I to be your experimental Marmot then? If you wish to try a few things when we get back, I wouldn’t be opposed.” Maybe she would indeed like color enough to change it up?

Fel blinked, surprised that the Elezen had been so easy to convince. It was very rare that a subject of hers was actually willing to partake in an experiment, without any coaxing or bribing.  “Oh, well...” the Auri began, gathering her thoughts now that she didn’t need to come up with reasons that experimentation wasn’t potentially dangerous. Nor had she even thought that Alisaie didn’t really pay attention to her fashion, similar to herself. 

 “Between you and Alphinaud, I have always thought you to be the more... daring of the pair.” Fel mused, rummaging around in her knapsack for the desired item. 

 “And of course, now that you’ve given me your consent....” Fel flashed a devilish grin at Alisaie, pulling a long, flowing lavender ribbon out of her pocket.

  “How would you feel if I said that the wearer of this accessory could remain hidden from all eyes for a short period of time? I’ve managed to apply a coat of serum derived from Shadow Wraiths to this lovely ribbon, though it took me a couple tries to actually get it to work. It activates with any black magic available in the vicinity, and draws upon that power to remain active.” 

The Auri wouldn’t get into the details of the painstaking hours she spent trying to kill the damn things in Eureka, let alone be quick enough to harvest anything from the slain bodies without meeting her own demise. She may have also purposely left out the part that the few trial runs made were directed towards unknowing bystanders that may have lost a couple years off their life, thinking a ghost appeared out of nowhere. 

If Kohaku thought Alphinaud’s face had been great, the look on Fel’s face was absolutely priceless. It was like a two for one deal! It wasn’t like Fel knew exactly what had led up to them shoving paper into their mouth like it was actually edible. So, of course Kohaku felt like they needed to explain that they weren’t chewing on paper just for the fun of it. The Raen was already spitting the paper out just as Felurian had mentioned that they probably should. The paper was rather bland and didn’t bother Kohaku much, but the taste of ink, while not the worst thing they have tasted, was not very appetizing.

“I have an explanation for…” Kohaku trailed off, waving their hand around as if trying to grasp the right words. “this particular incident. Alphinaud thought a simple ‘keep out’ sign was going to deter me! I thought he could use the company, instead~”

Them saying this, of course may have revealed to Alphinaud that unlike what they had said earlier, they knew exactly what the paper had said before they had torn it from the door. Kohaku could pretty much feel Alphinaud’s unwavering gaze on them and turned to him with a devilish grin and cackle. Neither of them had to know that their important paperwork was safe from being consumed.

The subject matter that Felurian had brought up previously had piqued Kohaku’s attention just a bit, however, and they could only assume whatever the Elezen teenager went to retrieve had something to do with it. But that wasn’t the only thing that seemed to have caught their attention.

Alphinaud’s eagerness was… interesting to say the least. Kohaku could have wrote it off as normal since of course, the Warrior of Light was in the room. But out of everyone, Kohaku figured the novelty would have worn off on Alphinaud the most. There was something more that they couldn’t quite pin point right then and when he shot a wary look their way, Kohaku’s eyebrows furrowed as they studied him. It was for naught.

With a huff and a shrug, Kohaku’s gaze fell from Alphinaud and returned to Felurian. “I feel left out! I am curious about what fascinating project you two have been working on, as well~ Perhaps… something that actually makes paper taste good?”

A held breath turned into a sigh of relief as the Elezen’s expression quickly transitioned from bewildered to thrilled, digging fervently in a desk most certainly untouched by the wild Kohaku. Though if his initial reaction were anything to judge by, this wasn’t the first incident of similar behavior from the white-horned Aura. 

Finally a stack of papers landed within a promptly open hand, and the slightly wrinkled pages that Fel had brought with her nestled comfortably under her arm, pressing into her side. Alphinaud had been increasingly helpful to many of her side projects, for which Fel was grateful. However, if there were any increasing enthusiasm from her scholarly companion, it had gone largely unnoticed as most of the Aura’s attention was focused on their work.    “Ah yes, it does seem to be the trend as of late,” she idly commented, quickly scanning the roughly written notes penned by the Scion. “Though I would chastise you for disregarding your own health to complete these lines, were it not contradictory for me to do so...” Fel, too, had forgotten sleep as a part of her daily regimen with the ideas in her head pleading to be tangibly realized. 

She shifted Alphinaud’s neatly creased pages one after another, stopping on one page with a furrowed brow until it was suddenly replaced with a wide smile.

“How clever! you’re suggesting that by physically forcibly removing the petals while the plant itself is in its reproductive phase, it would increase its yield if earth-aspected magic were applied? Interesting.. where did you come upon this knowledge? I would have assumed it would cause the plant to bear fruit instead of producing more leaves.” 

Without waiting for a reply from the Elezen, she continued. “But that would mean, why, we would be able to procure double the amount of leaves we originally thought. Maybe even produce ten ponze worth per month!” Fel claimed excitedly, eyes darting to and fro as she stared at nothing, thoughts forming and reforming in her head. “And based on those presumptions, your suggestion to aetherially reduce the dried herbs themselves could potentially increase the hypnotic potency, even though they may no longer be leaves. How soon can you clear your schedule, Alphinaud? We must put this to trial as soon as possible!”

Fel stopped in her tracks as the words left her mouth at lightspeed, a slight blush coloring her cheeks as the excitement got the best of her. “Er... well. Whenever you have a moment, really. I’m sure both of us have more... important  things to attend to. However, in the meantime I shall do my best with the most talented herbalists I know. Perhaps they could point me in the direction of where this plant could be procured, should none be in stock.”

The aura handed the papers back with an apologetic nod, nearly forgetting about Kohaku, who had since explained the crucial importance of them being there. Of course, with her attention previously drawn from the current state of affairs, Fel only realized now that the door to the room had been, indeed, knocked down. Clearing her throat after a darting glance, she faced the other Raen, glad to see the once-captive papers back on the desk, though quite a bit worse for wear. 

“I apologize for that digression, Kohaku-- I didn’t mean to exclude you. But, I assume you understood the gist of it all. If you are so interested in the project, would you perhaps be willing to contribute to our cause? You will be compensated with something much tastier than paper, I assure you.” 

Though the clouds had decided to blanket the sky with their prescence, the light provided by the hidden sun was perfect for the bookworm. Tail swishing slowly side to side in thought, Fel lay on the tricolored bright linen blanket she had bought the day before from a pleasant vendor in Uldan Sapphire Exchange. Of course, as the Warrior of Light, she should be tending to more important tasks– but even one as supposedly “powerful” as she needed a day off to rest. Fel wouldn’t object to the idea. As she shuffled to sit up and lean against the sturdy trunk of a nearby tree, the silver-haired Aura saw movement in her peripheral vision. Before she knew it, the crunching of the soft grass grew nearer and a shorter Raen appeared from behind her book, a bright smile lighting up her pale face. Fel wondered how Nayun could have found her– she had intended to lay low, out of sight from anyone who might disturb her. Regardless, Nayun’s radiant personality was a sight for sore eyes, especially following the recent unsuccessful attempts at creating a more refined catalyst for storing elemental magicks. With her offering of sweet treats, Fel could do naught but smile at the innocent Aura, the slight aroma of vanilla and sugar wafting in her direction. “Thank you, Nayun. That’s very kind of you. I apologize– I am not generally for the holidays, else I would have made you something in return.”Fel returned to her reading, expecting the Aura to sit down and join her on this pleasant day. She was surprised by a warm peck on the cheek, causing her to stiffen at the sudden physical touch. Her temple suddenly warmed, a bright pink blush flushing her cheeks as a small yelp escaped her lips. A look of confusion planted itself on Fel’s face as ambivalent feelings from the affectionate gesture wrestled within her. She didn’t want to hurt the Aura’s feelings….

“Alphinaud, it says here the calculations you made for the ...Kohaku, what are you doing?”

Tagged by:@wanderlust-spirits​