#bastardsonaymeric

The first response the dragoon felt was a sudden thrill of defensiveness, and perhaps the urge to explain himself and offer a justification for something as simple as putting his hair up. Estinien hadn’t been wrong when he had stated reasons that weren’t related to vanity or appearance; loose and messy hair had a higher risk of getting in his face and in the way. There was also no denying that loose hair served as an easier spot for others to try to grab at him in combat, though that argument fell a bit flat when he could simply... put on a helmet. 

It wasn’t like he could be dressed for combat at all times, though. This was one of those rare moments where Estinien had been found in a pair of tan breeches, dark boots, a dark blue shirt, and a coat over that to keep out the Ishgardian cold. There hadn’t been much of a reason behind the color pick for the shirt, though part of his felt certain it was... someone’s favorite color.

-- if there had been one thing he hadn’t missed about Ishgard, it was the bitter, bone-deep cold.

@bastard-son-aymeric​ asked : 💬 "Rumor has it, you follow me from rooftops to make sure I'm safe." Aymeric teased to Estinien.

Sentimentality was something that Estinien still struggled with. Time spent with others, surrounding by the twins and Krile and his other scion companions, had helped him to see that it was a strength, not a weakness, to be able to be open with what he felt. To push everything down and ignore it only led to a festering wound that would inevitably tear open and hadn’t that happened to him before? Not once but twice, and both from the influence of the eye that would forever be part of his very being. 

Aymeric had been able to see the worst of him. Estinien could imagine that he also could see the best in him, but that wasn’t the same as having actually experienced it. The thought, the realization, was followed by a strange mixture of both guilt and shame that had him stopped in place just a few feet away from the doorway that Aymeric was being. Visiting him had felt like... something he owed the other after everything that had come to past, but it was hard to ignore the little voice that couldn’t help but ask the question: Did Aymeric want to see him?

“No.”

His response to the proposed question came out without Estinien giving it any real thought, and he found himself wincing almost immediately. It felt cruel, and being his immediate gut response would have to make it sound like he truly had no interest in any type of... official relationship with Aymeric. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, but the reasoning behind why the offer had been presented to him soured the occasion. 

There was no denying that a bond forged between the once Azure Dragoon and the Speaker for the House of Lords would mark a momentous occasion for Ishgard. Would it actually make anything better? Estinien didn’t know, but he could see the argument to be made that it would help ease those who were reluctant to have the old ways slip away from them. 

But...

@bastard-son-aymeric​ a demandé : “ do you truly believe that anything so little as a rule, or a law, might have stopped me from protecting you? “

cold   color   of   fleeting   steel   braced   the   vision   of   a   friend.   laxed   lips   stretched   to   contentment.   ever   a   fool   of   a   man,   the   LORD   COMMANDER   was   when   unprompted   instances   occured,   ESTINIEN   would   have   no   other   to   call   him   such   save   for   himself.

❛   by   HALONE’s   tits,   you   almost   drove   yourself   onto   their   spear.   if   not   for   quick   my   reflexes,   you   would   not   be   in   that   bed,   AYMERIC.   ❜   softly   spoken   though   his   voice   held   a   gravely   accusing   tone   to   the   thoughts   of   his   friend’s   action.   the   AZURE   DRAGOON   sighed.   ❛   to   answer   your   question,   no...   ❜   they   were   both   confined   to   the   infirmary   and   though   the   halls   were   busy,   ESTINIEN   had   only   his   worried   set   of   his   friend.   ❛   still   that   does   not   make   you   less   of   a   FOOL.   ❜