sundered.

this is an independent rp blog for a couple of Final Fantasy XIV muses, including Hythlodaeus and Estinien. written by hermes, she/her, age 25+, est. an 18+ blog, oc and crossover friendly, minors and personals don't interact.

--- info. muses. memes.

That night he kept tossing and turning in bed, knowing he was probably reading too much into the whole thing. Estinien shouldn’t let his thoughts wander, especially not to Gaius and the blossoming affection Estinien carried in his heart. It was no use. Not only that he was convinced Gaius would never be interested in a man like him, on top of that.. it was forbidden. That Estinien was even amusing the thought of what it would be like to kiss Gaius was enough reason for Halone to punish him. All Estinien could do was close his eyes, push those thoughts aside and force himself to sleep.

The next morning he got up early; he dressed and had breakfast, though it almost worried him when he noticed that he actually looked forward to seeing Gaius again. Urgh, how frustrating. He wasn’t a boy anymore, after all. He really had to get himself together.

Putting on a warm coat he left his room and made his way through Ishgard, avoiding to even look at the chapel and as he reached the stables Gaius was already there. Estinien forced a neutral expression on his face.

“Morning.”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, gaze of gray eyes wandering around, first over the other’s form but then quickly to the side, to the large chocobo standing at the gate of the pen.

Then he heard @adamoenus say: ❝i didn’t expect you to show up. thank you for that. ❞

Estinien gave a little grunt in response and shrugged his shoulders.

“No big deal. We both need someone we can rely on, and I have nowhere else to be. So.. what do you want to do here? Just look at the birds?”

Not even the most gripping of tales could compare to the excitement Moren felt whenever he was spending time with Jae, one of the Warrior of Darkness’ closest companions. The tender librarian had liked Jae and had been interested in him and fascinated by him from the moment he had first seen him, and every time Jae had come over to ask about a specific book, a tale, knowledge, something to learn.. Moren had felt his heart yearn more and more whenever the man had walked out of the door again.

Whenever he dared to let his thoughts wander, to think about what it would be like to be close to Jae, a gentle blush appeared on his pale cheeks, he never would have imagined that his dream about exchanging kisses would come true. Usually, in a world like theirs, dreams never came true. And yet.. the more time passed, the closer they became. What began as Jae spending his days at the library, even went as far as falling asleep in a chair while Moren worked, slowly but surely turned into something more.

Something very fragile and tender.

They would find warmth and peace in each other, they would spend nights together, just talking and dreaming what this world could be like once the night returned. One day Jae would even bring a feline he had found in the wild to keep Moren company when he was away, he had even put up self-drawn warnings to remind people to please not let the animal flee the Cabinet of Curiosity, lest it would once more find itself confronted with a sineater.

And one day, everything changed. One day, Moren’s dream really came true when Jae had cupped his face so tenderly before kissing him with the gentleness one could only expect from a fictional prince. Or hero. And with each kiss the librarian’s feelings would grow stronger, and soon he would be convinced.. he actually fell in love. From there on more kisses would happen, during sleepovers in Jae’s room at the Pendants or Moren’s little one-room apartment, a kiss exchanged whenever Jae had to leave with the Warrior of Darkness or a kiss that served as a greeting whenever he would come visit the librarian at the Cabinet.

But there was nothing more exciting than this. Sitting in Jae’s bed, having the other next to him, exchanging kisses, rather passionate ones at that, and it was often Moren who sighed so tenderly into the other’s mouth, being so very inexperienced but also very needy for more. Though when Jae broke the kiss this time he had no idea what shenanigans the other had in mind as he got up, Moren remained where he was, the tunic he wore already half unbuttoned and exposing some of his pretty chest and collarbones, but he blushed so very deeply when Jae returned to him, proudly presenting a black piece of fabric. Was it satin?

Moren reached out to touch the soft fabric, mind already wandering to what Jae intended to do with it, but the truth was that he would let the other do whatever he wanted. He trusted him completely. Still, his heart skipped a beat when the fabric was wrapped around his head, covering his eyes, leaving him bereft of the one sense that ensured the most safety.

His breath quickened; he was not quite scared, but there was a tension to his excitement now and he reached out to grab Jae’s hands, the idea of any distance between them suddenly becoming unbearable.

How truly exciting it was to watch Amara fight her way through the various champions, see her conquer feral soul after feral soul only to get an opportunity to fight him, the real Champion of the Arcadion. Tyrant couldn’t keep himself from grinning as he was looking rather forward to that match. The unstoppable upstart, the unenhanced Warrior against The Tyrant, undisputed champion of the Arcadion. Finally getting to face a worthy opponent again made the man feel rather excited and he looked forward to the spectacle he could provide for the people and the President.

He could already imagine it. The cheers and shouts of the people, the adrenaline and Amara.. out of breath, her hair messy, on her knees as she has to admit and accept that a feral soul would always be stronger than hers. Oh, how he longed to conquer her..

When the door to his own personal quarters opens the Tyrant is surprised. No one would dare to disturb him, especially not without knocking. People respected him, feared him even, but when he turned around the Tyrant actually paused for a moment. Because there she was.

Amara. Her long hair fell over her shoulder and her body appeared to only be wrapped in a white towel; Tyrant’s gaze wandered down her body, almost shamelessly following her long and well-defined legs before he looked up again to meet her gaze. There was no way she did not know the way to the showers by now, which would mean she was here on purpose, but what for..

The Champion forced down a little growl as his pupils widened for just a moment as he looked at her and let his thoughts wander, but then he forced a neutral expression on his face and he raised a sharp eyebrow at her, a challenging smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

The dragoon was both confused and frustrated as they finally were allowed to enter Sharlayan. Who would have thought that crossing the borders would be this difficult? And why did nobody warn him that he had to come up with an explanation for his stay and occupation, luckily Krile had come to the stunned dragoon’s aid, but still he was not too pleased about the title he had earned himself. A wandering mercenary. Well, it was not entirely wrong, he did wander the lands, offering a helping hand to anyone who had a problem with beasts or fiends, though it also made him realize that he really did not have a home, that he did not have a place he belonged to.

But he did have a person he belonged to, a person that was his home. And that was enough, it was more than he had ever hoped for and more than he knew he deserved. Vali, black mage and infamous Warrior of Light, and Estinien belonged completely to him. He belonged with him, anything else was unimaginable. Even that he had the chance now to travel by his partner’s side, with everything the mage had been through with his journey to the First and the near-death experience, Estinien was incredibly relieved he finally had the chance to keep an eye on Vali, to protect him properly, to keep him safe. To sacrifice everything he had if that meant that the Warrior of Light would live. That was all that mattered.

Getting drunk out of his mind had not been the plan. The plan had been to have Cyvel accompany him on a journey through Eorzea and the next stop had been Kugane, the colourful city that inhabited the most delicious food, or at least the food that was the most delicious to the dragoon: sun-dried squid.

After their arrival Estinien had accompanied his little brother to the inn, knowing that long travels and especially to places that were unfamiliar to him were still very exhausting to Cyvel while the dragoon was used to walking around all day, chasing the horde all through Coerthas. He let the other know he intended to go to a bar nearby, but that he won’t be long, that the other could already go to bed and rest.. but it did take longer for him to return than intended.

It seemed that they had reached the city in the midst of the new year’s celebration and before he knew it Estinien had been led to a stall that sold his beloved squid by a group of dancing maidens, he tried to insist that he had to return to his little brother, but he was swiftly pulled forward, this time by two rather strong looking Au Ra males that offered him a bottle of sake for every arm wrestling match he won against them. And Estinien wouldn’t say no to a challenge.

Three hours later, as the sun was already going down and the streets were lit by a hundred of lanterns, Estinien sat on some stairs, third sake bottle in hand, a stick of dried squid in the other which he chewed on lazily, looking very obviously drunk, and already half asleep.

That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by the gentlest voice that ever existed in this world, and sure enough, when Estinien lifted his head there he was: his little brother, beckoning him to go home with him. But instead of doing that, Estinien dropped the remaining squid, passing the sake to Cyvel before he took the poet’s free hand in his own, trying to pull him forward, towards the harbour.