#chaemera

One (1) Torture Dance for the Thirsty Boy

Cloud: waking up and being soothed back to sleep.

WARNINGS for injury and the aftermath of violence. This piece is set after the Battle of Rhalgr’s Reach and references my FFXIV Write 2019 prompt response “Fatigue.”

It was the pain that woke her, lancing and throbbing along the entire length of her left side. A wheezing sound, low and raspy, escaped Alakhai as she opened her eyes; every breath hurt as her chest rose and fell slowly. She felt heavy, both from the poppy milk that had definitely worn off as she slept and the casts encasing her left leg from mid-thigh to shin and her left arm from clavicle to wrist. She was propped upright in the cot by a multitude of pillows, to keep from putting pressure on her cracked ribs, and yet more pillows had been shoved under her left arm to keep the weight of the cast from pulling her shoulder back out of its socket.

Getting her ass kicked sucked.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Synnove, dead asleep, stripped down to smalls, her torso from just under her breasts to her hips wrapped in thick cotton bandages. A gusting breath of relief still escaped Alakhai: Tyr was draped over the hyur’s blanketed legs, dozing, and Ivar had curled himself into the spot between Synnove’s shoulder and chin.

Carbuncles meant her aether had stabilized, thanks any gods that were listening. One less thing to worry about. Now, where was Galette? The carbuncles always re-manifested in order, and if there were two carbuncles about, the third had to be somewhere nearby.

Alakhai felt the a small weight settle on the very edge of her cot’s mattress, and heard a very small, soft meow.

Ah. There she was.

The Xaela carefully tilted her head down, mindful of the plasters keeping her horn from further cracking, and met Galette’s gaze. “Hello, little zephyr,” she whispered.

Galette’s ears twitched and she chirped. Hi, Aunt Ala. May I come up?

“Yes.”

The emerald carbuncle carefully pulled herself up onto the cot, doing her very best to keep from jarring Alakhai or any of her pillows. She very carefully stepped over Alakhai’s legs to her right side, then curled up in the space next to the xaela’s hip. Alakhai carefully pet her, sighing quietly and closing her eyes once more.

Chimera

http://ivanbelikov.com/portfolio/chimera

Both Synnove and Rereha stared. Looked at one another. Stared forward again.

And blushed.

“Smash,” they both squeaked.

“Except I don’t think either of us would be doing the smashing…” Synnove added in a small voice.

Rereha nodded vigorously in agreement. “And I’m okay with that.” She bit her lip. “Fuck. Those legs. I would really like to mash my face against those thighs.”

Synnove squeaked again.

~~

The obvious pick is Synnove and A’khebica. BUT I’M GONNA DO REREHA AND LHEI’TO. :D

–

>> Lhei'to and Rereha met in the drunk tank at the Marauders’ Guild. Discount whiskey night at the Drowned Wench, lots of pirates, lots of card games, things went downhill, the Yellowjackets broke it up and dragged everyone out of the tavern. Rere was still insulting her poker opponents, so Lhei'to picked her up and brought her to the other side of the communal cell to get her to calm the hells down. (He also served as a very effective shield against anyone who’d try to start something against Rere.) Synnove paid their bail the next morning and formally introduced them. Rere’s been harassing Lhei'to ever since.

>> Lhei'to is really good at getting Rere to calm the hell down when she’s gotten herself worked up into a tizzy over something. This usually means he drags her out to a practice yard or some sort of clearing and makes her practice her archery until her arms are jelly or run laps or do sit ups until she’s too tired to curse at him anymore. Simultaneously, Rereha is very good at getting Lhei'to out of his head; she drags him to art galleries, the Lominsan bawdy houses for a matinee performance, the newest cafe that opened on Sapphire Avenue, makes him interact with the world.

>> Rereha lacks shame and never misses an opportunity to ogle Lhei'to because he is fucking shredded, okay, and that’s all legitimate useful muscle to boot. Lhei'to’s hot and Rereha is a red-blooded woman, she isn’t going to pass up the opportunity to stare. He is also her strange old uncle figure and she has zero intention of actually sleeping with him, that would be fucking weird, m'kay. Yes, it’s a weird mental dichotomy. No, Rere doesn’t see any need to reconcile them. (Similarly, Lhei'to thinks of Rereha and the rest of the Squad as his rambunctious, trouble-seeking nieces who occasionally need adult supervision.)

(…Note this is true of FFXIV and maybe one another AU. Everything else is fair game.)

If they’re pulling from FF12 like a lot of recent content, probably Icelandic.