#frog feud

She bumped his blanket roll with a fist as she stepped up to him, the tightly-rolled fabric making a satisfying thud that still made his ears twitch straight up for a moment.

"I need a word with you," she announced, cutting through his disgruntled greeting. She hurried past him, heading down to the end of the dock without glancing back. Her heart started thumping hard in her chest as soon as she understood she was now bound to talk to him, after putting it off for a whole week. No amount of wandering around following hunt marks and treasure maps had distracted her, and this was becoming a matter of life or death for her concentration.

He just would not leave her thoughts any more.

The waves were lapping quietly against the dock, stirred only by the boats pulling in on a calm evening; the warm air heavy with evening flower smells and the tantalising dinner rush further down the docks. Just talk to him and you can go and get tacos, she told herself, as she settled herself down on the planks, and watched as Erenville lowered himself down beside her, his movements cautious.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," he replied, nonplussed.

Frog watched a small fishing boat drifting past to dock for the evening; though it was a few dozen yalms away, she waited until it had well passed them to start talking.

"Erenville... What you said about leaving to travel on your own... I, um." She swung her feet, suddenly struck dumb. Why was this simple thing so hard to say? Erenville wasn't helping; he glanced away as soon as she looked at him. "When you said that, I felt so scared."

"Scared?" He looked up abruptly from contemplation of a loose thread on his trousers. "You don't think that I can look after myself when I'm travelling?"

"No! No not at all! I know you and your backpack are equal to any expedition! I just... It made me feel like... Like I've spent so much time with you since we came to Tural, and the thought of not travelling with you, just when you are heading off to some place I've never been...."

"Is it possible that you're telling me... that you'll miss me?"

She nodded, but then shrugged. It didn't feel right; there was still more she wanted to say. "No... I know I have to stay here a while longer to help Y'shtola and Krile with their investigations. I'm just not used to being tied to one place for so long that when someone says they're leaving that it's not my cue to leave as well... I wanted nothing more than for you to ask me to come with you. And I knew it couldn't happen, and I didn't expect it to hurt like that."

Erenville laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. "I think you are saying that you'll miss me. Admit it."

"You really want me to say it, don't you?"

"Perhaps because it will allow me to say that, in turn, I will miss you."

Somehow, hearing him say it made her stomach drop. What had she been expecting? Did she want him to say it? It was such a silly little confession to make for someone she'd spent months around! No, this was ridiculous. She should just say it before this became something that unravelled around her for months like every other conversation that tripped her up with him and became days of second guessing and seething.

The words felt thick and heavy in her throat, for all their simplicity. "I'm going to miss you, Erenville."

She leaned in to see what he'd say in response, her heart beating fast; he didn't say anything, just scrambled forwards to press his lips to hers.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Frog stood there for one second and then adjusted her stance to make sure he got rained on :'(

You can talk to Buscarron for three days and three nights, and he will not run out of either wine or stories. He may have an unlimited font of both, but on the fourth day my new Free Company finally found their way to our pre-appointed meeting at the Druthers and as fascinating as the stop had been, and crucial to my education in the ways of Eorzeans, the forest, the intricate web of peoples who inhabit it and the spirits they construct their habits around, I had to set forth again.

Still, for those days I couldn't tear my eyes from the charismatic former Lancer, nor look away from his animated storytelling, as he regaled me with tales that made it sound like damn near every person who'd ever set foot in Eorzea had come through his doors on their way hither and thither across the continent, from porters trading out their chocobos and rushing on without even a meal, to great adventurers and heroes who he swore he'd served, and then thrown out on their arse. I think those were my favourite stories.

It left me with a deep respect that the creaking planks of his floor had felt the tread of so many who, like me, had stumbled upon this tiny haven of cheer under the grim oppressive boughs of the Shroud, all with the same goals in that minute simply of getting out of the rain and resting our feet in this one guaranteed haven.

Roe-ember 3: Near Miss

I've been thinking about this, and as much as Frog can be a bit of a dork she has a calm charisma, sense of presence, and sureness about what she's doing most of the time that I don't think she gets embarrassed much...

That said, Erenville wildly throws her off balance and makes her behave flustered and weird and she has no idea what to do about any of that. I think he could make her feel weird by walking into a room when she's eating a regular sandwich normally, but now she's mortified about it.

I think that time I posed her freaking out about a weird bug on the island sanctuary and making him come get it and take it outside was probably a low point :D