Day 6: Safety
I'm a world of pain, and you're a safe place.
Tags got eaten by the limit so rambles go here instead.
Estinien, like almost everyone in Ishgard, has frequent recurring nightmares about losing his family, and he's considered difficult to share a tent with because of it. Aymeric is the only person he can seem to sleep soundly next to. This particular shot was the first time Estinien spent the night in Borel manor and not a rented bed at Cloud Nine, and feels like he needs to leave to stay in one of the guest rooms after waking Aymeric up (who was not having any of it and just spooned him the rest of the night.)
There's something that's imagining my dragons about how difficult it was to pose Estinien due to all the accoutrements of the drachenmail, and how it's designed specifically to be difficult to get close to the dragoon's body with it on, and yet Kitali managed to fit between them all without issue. He can only hold her so closely without injuring either one of them but she still managed to get right up against him.
And there's some sort of larger metaphor there for how despite his best efforts at keeping the people around him at a distance she still managed to get through his defenses and got under his skin almost right from the jump (<- that's a pun, you see.)
And I am Once Again In My Dravanian Road Trip Cups about them because that's the first time he's ever touched her without violent intent, and it's the first time that she's ever willingly let him get into her personal space. That whole Situation surrounding Ravana and him standing up for her to Alphinaud and then the subsequent shared nightmare where he protected her instead happens within a 244 hour period and completely changed the trajectory of their relationship from "mildly aggravating and begrudging allies" to "I will kill for you".
It's no secret that Aymeric has been relying on Kitali's aid to further his agenda in reforming Ishgard but what most people don't see is how much it takes a toll on him, and how much she has been instrumental in keeping him together just as a person. It's why Artoirel called on her instead of a mage to deal with Ishgard's blasphemy; he knew Aymeric needed his wife more than Ishgard needed another thaumaturge. As much as Aymeric can project a flawless and unassailable persona, he will mask until the mask shatters and it's Kitali who helps him pick up the pieces again.
