A Paparito Blog

“Lolo, my dear!”

“I told you not to call me that,” Lolorito snaps with gritted teeth as he comes off the ramp into the pier. He crosses his thin, deep red robe tighter around himself, having changed his outfit once the weather turned hotter, as he makes his way between his staff and the deckhands, busy offloading his luggage and trade that had come along in his ship. He meets the excitable lalafell and host for the next few days in the middle of the wide pier. He lets himself succumb to Gegeruju's greeting, hands heavy with jewelry landing on his shoulders before he is kissed quickly on both cheeks. With a sigh, he gets dragged to the heavier lalafell’s side with an arm around his shoulders and they turn to make their way out of the dock, Gegeruju already gearing up for his usual chatter.

“It’s been much too long, my dear! And I know I keep saying this, but you really must visit more often. Was the travel alright? I heard the weather has been ghastly over at Limsa, did you catch any of it? We haven't seen anything here, of course—”

“It was fine, was mostly windy,” Lolorito mutters, rubbing his face tiredly before crossing his arms. Gegeruju then suddenly jerks them to a stop in the middle of the pier.

“Wait a minute.” He turns to look back at the ship and then around them, searching for something. “Tito, where is your beau!? You told me he was joining you this time!”

He feels Lolorito tense under his arm, lips pursing into a grimace before looking away. “There was a change of plans. He's not coming.”

“What!? Why!?” But Lolorito resumes walking towards the central elevation of the resort without another word, leaving Gegeruju to scramble after him. The younger lalafell tries to peer into Lolorito’s face for a clue, “Did something happen?”

“He couldn't come,” the blond replies curtly. “The bar is still in the same place, correct?” he asks as he starts climbing up the ramp.

“Y-yes but I had planned to take you to my deck for refreshments!”

Lolorito pauses before turning to Gegeruju, “do you have alcohol there?”

“Of course I do!” Gegeruju scoffs, hand on his chest in offense, “Who do you take me for?”

“Then let’s go.” Lolorito does not waste time, turning around to walk towards the nearby ramp that will take them to the upper levels of the resort, towards its owner’s private floor. Gegeruju hurries after him.

They soon arrive to the wide deck, the bright midday sun blocked by the awnings and numerous tropical plants scattered throughout, letting the air cool slightly and blocking the sound of the busy area below. Gegeruju knows better than to keep Lolorito waiting when he is in a mood so he catches the eye of his personal bartender and instructs her to get started on the cocktails and to keep them coming.

Lolorito throws himself into one of the deck lounge chairs in the center of the platform and puts on his sunglasses to take in the view, hand out to receive the first glass, some tall, bright monstrosity of blue and purple, filled with ice and topped with a lime slice. Gegeruju soon sits himself on the chair next to him, with his own wide glass filled with something yellow and orange, too bright to be natural, also filled with ice. They clink their glasses together and sip in silence for a minute. The third chair gets folded and quietly taken away.

“Too sweet, needs more gin.”

“Will you just tell me what happened!?” Gegeruju leans over the armchair to pout at the blond. Lolorito only peers at him over his sunglasses with a deadpan look and a raised eyebrow, waiting. Gegeruju sighs and looks back at the bartender, making a hand gesture. Lolorito downs the rest of the drink at once and puts his hand out, soon feeling someone taking the glass from his hand and replace it with another. He brings the straw to his lips for a sip. He hums in satisfaction before slipping further into the chair, letting his legs fall wide in his stance.

“Titooo…” he could feel Gegeruju’s puppy dog eyes burning towards the side of his face. Meddlesome man…

“I told you, he couldn't make it.”

“Just suddenly!? Last minute?? You told me just a few days ago that everything was settled!”

“What the fuck do you want me to say!?” Lolorito snaps, throwing his hand up, “he’s not coming, end of fucking discussion!”

A silence settles tense over the deck afterwards, only the sound of the waves and seagulls attempting to soften it.

Lolorito peaks at a taken aback Gegeruju before looking away, feeling heat crawling up the back of his neck in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to say it so loudly. He sips from his glass, not realizing he is already reaching the end of it. He sighs as he puts his hand out with the glass again and brings it back in once it is switched. Gegeruju silently nudges the platter of food that sits between them; Lolorito doesn't know when that appeared. He brings the straw to his lips instead, then sighs again.

“She… she found out. About us,” he mutters, haltingly.

“Who? You didn't tell me he was married.” Gegeruju squints, trying to remember past conversations.

“Wh—no, asshole! The Sultana!”

“Why would Her Grace be involved in this?” Gegeruju gasps, delighted, “you naughty thing, did you do it in the palace?”

Lolorito rubs his forehead, staving off the incoming headache. “No, you idiot! We—well yes, we did there a couple of times already,” he shakes his head, “but, no! We weren't caught, I meant she found out we were together. You know,” he leans forward and makes a vague gesture bringing his hands close, “in a relationship?”

Gegeruju continues to squint confusedly at him, a hand under his chin as he sips his cocktail. “Why would the Sultana care who you're sleeping with?”

Lolorito frowns at him, annoyed. “You don't remember anything I told you about him, do you?” He falls back and sips from his cocktail some more. He winces at the dizziness the sudden movement brought and reluctantly reaches for something in the platter between them.

“I may have forgotten some details,” Gegeruju rolls his eyes, “but I had planned on getting to know him when he visited!”

“Papashan is the Sultana’s guardian. Was also her former bodyguard, remember?”

“Hm not really, I don't really pay attention to those type of people.” Lolorito snorts. Figures. “But I can see now how that could be an issue.”

“Hm,” Lolorito nods, “so, she found out and forbade him from coming. And here we fucking are,” he ends with a sigh, raising his almost empty glass in a mocking toast.

Gegeruju looks towards the glass in concern, suspecting now where the night was going to lead them. “But surely you both can talk to her about it? She can't just… forbid people for this kind of thing, right? Isn't that, what’s the word… tyrannical or something?”

Lolorito frowns at him in condescension. This rich, naive idiot…

“Yes, I’m sure we can change her mind from forbidding a high rank paladin of the Sultansworn, and her closest confidant, from sleeping with a member from the Syndicate, whom she hates.” He rolls his eyes as he spins the straw around the melting ice.

Gegeruju purses his lips, “Well if the two of you managed between yourselves…”

Lolorito pauses as he takes in the comment. He can feel his face warm up remembering the late night conversations he and Papashan have had, once they realized that whatever was going on between them wasn't stopping. It wasn't… easy. There’s a reason why they haven't told almost anybody that they were together. Hell, he knows that the young General still hates the idea, from how he glares at him across the table at the Syndicate meetings. And Dewlala doesn't exactly oppose it, but even she must've suspected that it would eventually blow up in their faces.

He spikes the straw into the ice in annoyance before thrusting the glass to the side. “Well, it doesn't fucking matter now.”

“What? So you two are done? Before I even met him?!” Gegeruju squawks when Lolorito only shrugs at him, sipping into the new glass. “Tito!”

“What do you want me to say!?” Lolorito drops the straw to throw his hand up again. “She found out, told him not to go and he accepted! What can I do against that!?”

“You just accepted this!?”

“Of course not! I tried to convince him to come anyway but he—” Lolorito stops suddenly with an inhale. He presses his lips together tightly for a moment as he curls his hand into a fist. Then Gegeruju sees his longtime friend deflate into his chair, looking away, “He’ll always choose her first, no matter what I do.”

“But surely you—!”

“Enough, Geru,” Lolorito interrupts tiredly, looking back down to his drink, “it is done. I would prefer to focus on the here and now, if you don't mind.”

As he sees Lolorito down his fourth cocktail in as many minutes, he sighs in resignation before giving a quick look at his bartender with a nod and then turning to his assistant who had been sitting quietly by the bar. He does a hand gesture with a head shake to her, to which she nodded before raising from her seat and quietly leaving the platform. No point wasting the beautiful talent show he prepared if his guest is too blindly drunk to see.

He hears the bartender swap his friend's glass yet again and he nudges the food platter towards him once more. He knows what Tito can handle, this place having been his refuge for this kind of thing in the past. Still, he can't help feeling disappointed at this development. This would have been the first time that Lolo was going to bring a special someone! It was meant to be a momentous occasion! He had plans! Oh, dear Sultana, what did you do!?

He drinks from his own glass as he leans back into his seat in resignation of what the weekend would turn out to be. He sighs, before turning again to the morose blond.

“Well, shall I tell you then about the drama that's been happening up in the vineyards?”