Reshene

(Warrior of Light x Estinien. Immediately post-5.1)

They had spent a brief night in her room above the Rising Stones, departing well before any of the other Scions realized they were still present. They had tumbled their way down into Gridania whereupon she revealed she had a house. A house.

“I haven’t spent a lot of time here recently,” she said when they entered. He could see dust motes whirling through the stale air when she started opening windows.

It mattered not. They spent most of the following day in her bedroom.

Eventually he emerged and got to look around a bit. Books were scattered around everywhere, precarious piles of tomes despite the fact he knew she still struggled with reading. Even more abundant were the blueprints. They occupied most every surface and more than a few of her walls, scratched up with her questionable handwriting detailing out an impressive array of crafting projects.

(There, on the wall leading down into her lower level crafting room, a blueprint for a set of matching bookshelves with motifs to Saint Valeroyant etched into the woodwork. Upon reading a note in the lower right said it was a birthday present for his foster father he promptly moved on and tried forgetting about it.)

The only tidy place in the whole house was her kitchen which was cleaned and organized to a level that worried him a little. Not for lack of use, though, which was his initial thought. She insisted they dine in for dinner. Watching her cook was a bit like watching her train. Speaking wasn’t her strong suit but she revealed a great deal about herself by how she worked. The precise way she diced the vegetables, the slight smile on her lips, the focus in her eyes as she patiently leaned over the pot while waiting for the dumplings to finish steaming.

It was fascinating, as always, watching her do something she clearly loved to do.

On the second morn his thoughts started nagging him. He hadn’t lied when he fled the Rising Stones, he did have his own tasks to look after now that he had completed Tataru’s commission. He needed to get started and they both understood that their time together was always fleeting.

And yet: there she was, asleep on her Doman-style futon, snoring gently, and for once the lines on her face were smoothed away. Nothing worried her in her dreams, apparently. A far cry from her waking moments when the world tugged at her in a hundred different directions until she retreated inside the mantle of Warrior of Light.

The Aery.

The very aether of the sky itself crackled when Nidhogg roared. Dark clouds rapidly unfurled as lightning ripped through them. The flashes of light revealed the broken architecture upon the floating island beneath, a testament to a better age long since dead.

A day for wicked deeds and terrible violence.

In the shadows of one of the broken spires, the dual Azure Dragoons stopped to get their bearings before the next assault.

“I think we found him,” Reshene shouted over the din at her companion.

Estinien spared her a backward glance. “Any other brilliant deductions?”

“Yes! He’s angry!”

Somehow there were muscles left on Estinien’s face to deepen his already present scowl. They were used.

Reshene’s grinned like the battle-happy fool she was. She leapt over the rock and into the open where any and all could spot her from malms away. “Don’t worry, sourpuss. It’ll all work out!”