#mercyrius

if black remove his glamour he look like a rly tol lady

If I Think They Are: Ugly || Plain || Alright || Cute || Freaking Adorable || Pretty || Beautiful || Hot || Stunning 

Rhel’a shrugs. He’s not going to say the man is ugly, but he’s not into men.

If I Would Go On A Date With Them: Not even if we were the last two one earth || No || Maybe || Eh….Sure || Yes || WILL YOU MARRY ME

Rhel’a shakes his head emphatically. He likes women and that’s not a woman. 

If I Trust Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || With My Life

The Keeper doesn’t think Black looks dangerous, but also isn’t quite willing to put his flask in his hands either.

If I Care About Them: Not At All || Not Really || Kind of || Yes || Deeply

He’ll stop and help Black if he sees him in a life-or-death situation because otherwise Menphina will send him deeper into Hell and it’s the right thing to do.

If I Would Sleep With Them: Not Enough Alcohol in the World || No || Maybe if I were wasted || Maybe || Eh…Sure || Yes || TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF NOW!

He squints a bit and tips his head. Yeah, maybe Black can look like a pretty lady at the bottom of an ale bottle.

My Comfort Level With Your Muse: Keep a Distance || Okay You Can Stand There, But Don’t Touch Me || Let’s Get Coffee and Talk || Let’s Cuddle || I Can Change In Front of You || Let’s Take a Bath Together

Don’t fucking move unless Rhel’a comes to you first or else you’ll give the poor drunk a heart attack.

If I See You As: A Stranger || An Acquaintance || A Friend || A Close Friend || My Best Friend || A Crush || The Love of My Life

Rhel’a doesn’t know Black!

((Another story about @mercyrius ‘s M’rhi Tia and Neni. Except in a Bad AU. : ) Enjoy! ))

   The moment she had pieced together the clues through her painstaking research through his home, into the Melvaan's Gate, and the scraps of his notes that had been forgotten in books, she hurried straight to Mor Dhona. Nenini tossed herself into the aetheric stream in a panicked flight, all thoughts of telling the others vanishing from her mind. She had to help him before he got hurt. What he was doing was madness and love filled pain and oh if only she had offered to help him shoulder such pain! Did she not support him enough? Was this her failure? Did she focus too much on Etienne and Trust and everyone else and leave poor M'rhi to suffer his broken heart with no one's shoulder to cry on?

   Even if she could not apologize, perhaps she could convince him of a different way. Something else. Anything, anything but what he was trying to do!

   Her body was still piecing itself back together when she staggered around the aetheryte of Revenant's Toll taking a few gasping breaths of air as her material caught up with her soul. She hurried to the rather concerned looking chocobokeep to pay the fare before climbing astride the saddle and spurring the bird into a breakneck run.

   The warped land of crystals became something of a blur, the jutting shards and ruins intermingling at the sides of her vision while ahead she saw the path she needed to take in clear clarity. The chocobo could only go so far however, so at the limit of it's path she climbed down and continued in a mad sprint.

   She had to stop him, she had to. She had to keep him from getting hurt, she had to assure him he was loved. That he did not need to do what he had set out to do. That there was another way!

   There was a sick crack and she felt dust drift into her eyes. She laid on the ground for a moment. Her face stung, her leg screamed as she forced herself onto her knees and her broken ankle crunched as she hauled herself onto her good foot. Hot blood oozed from her face as she reached down to grab her ankle, sewing a surge of curative aether into the bones and muscles within. It was not enough, but she did not have the time to focus on anything else. M'rhi was in trouble. Her little brother needed her. She wiped the blood from the scratches and opened lip away, spitting up some that had seeped into her dust filled mouth as she limped and hobbled as quickly as she could.

      The carbuncle told her she had arrived. It was happily sniffling around as M'rhi sat with a large book in the middle of a wall of crystals, where grass seemed to take on unnatural hues from their presence. His ear twitched and he turned his head while Neni hobbled towards him with arms outstretched.

   "Neni!?"

   "M'rhi," she wheezed as he got to his feet and moved to her with arms outstretched. "What are you doing!?" She asked.

   "What do you think I'm doing? Why are you bleeding!? Did you hurt yourself, again?" He asked, holding her arms and helping her stay upright.

   "I heard you..." she took a deep breath. Her lungs burned, she realized, her throat felt like hot gravel. "I heard you were trying to become a primal."

   "Trying?" He repeated the word back as if it did not quite fit in his mouth. He reached up to her face to wipe some blood and dirt away. "What happened?"

   Neni placed her hands on him as she stared at him with wide eyes, "I came here as fast as I could! I ran, M'rhi you can't do this. You're going to get hurt!"

   The young miqo'te shook his head gently and straightened up. He stood taller than her by a bit, but for some reason he seemed a bit bigger than usual to her. "But, Roel... I have to find him," he said softly, sniffling slightly. He had been crying it seemed.

   Neni reached up with a blood smeared hand to hold M'rhi's cheek, "I know you miss him, and it hurts. It hurts so much. But we can go look for him together. You don't need to do this ritual to yourself. Wouldn't Roel want to see you as you?"

   "No, it's more than that," M'rhi said. Neni heard a soft sound like bells on the wind. "I want to be... stronger, Neni. For Roel-"

   "You /are/ strong enough M'rhi and you're becoming stronger all the time-"

   "-and for you."

   She stopped and felt something cold grace her spine as she looked up into the blue and yellow eyes. His pupils looked just a bit too long. "You don't need to get stronger for me, Rhi. I'm your big sister, I'm strong enough," she said gently.

   M'rhi blinked. "No you're not."

   "What?"

   The miqo'te shook his head again, his earring bobbing along. He wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. "You aren't strong enough, that's fine! You're a great big sister! You try really hard anyway, but you don't need to try anymore. I'm stronger now. I can keep Roel and you safe... I just... need to find Roel first.... he's somewhere..."

   Neni set her hands on his shoulders now, gripping them as tightly as she could. "Rhi, no. You can't do this. You could die, neither I nor Roel or your mother or anyone else want you to die! I can protect myself so-"

   "No you can't." His voice was a hiss even though he was smiling. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his carbuncle, although now it looked like some famished mockery of itself. Then from the corner of her other eye she saw another one. His hand moved to grip her bandaged arm, "remember when this happened? I wasn't strong enough then. But I am now. I'm going to find Roel, and then you and him can stay with me and nothing bad will happen again because I. Won't. Let. It."

   She trembled in his arms, eyes wide as she tried to see any hint of her little brother within his eyes. He was staring back at her, eyes narrowed in finality and determination. He would not be swayed from his choice. "Rhi, please, please... listen to me... you can't..."

   His lips split into a wide smile, "I know what's wrong!" His voice was horrifically cheery. "You're tired, aren't you Neni? You should rest, you're always up on your feet and awake doing things for everyone and worrying over me and it must be so exhausting..." She felt like a heavy blanket was suddenly draped on her mind and body, her legs threatening to give out beneath her. "Just sleep for now, I'll find Roel and everything will be fine."

   The urge to sleep was near overwhelming. It took every ounce of her already feeble strength to keep her eyes open to look at M'rhi. "Rhi, why...?"

(Featuring @mercyrius ‘s Rhichan!)

"And will that be all fer ya?"

  Nenini Neni fell out of her fugue to look at the Roe woman who had just finished wrapping several pouches of herbs and spices up. The pungent scents warded away the ever present smell of salt that wafted from the ocean. "Oh, yes! Thank you," she gave the tall woman a smile and quickly counted out the gil to hand over to the woman. "Have a lovely day."

  The merchant nodded and turned her attention to the gil as Neni walked out of Hawker's Alley with basket in tow. The warm sun fought against the breeze  of the ocean. Her basket was full of foodstuffs, stacks of cornbread from the Drowning Wench, numerous slices of fish that had been carefully wrapped and marked, cabbages and other vegetables sitting under the spice pouches. It weighed heavily, pressing into the bandages that covered her ever-harmed arm. Neni had no experience in raising children but she was sure the hefty basket's contents would be enough to keep a growing boy fed for a few days.

  She mumbled the directions he had told her to herself as she followed the bridges that connected one building-swarmed rock to another. It was easy to get lost in Limsa Lomnisa, she had learned. Her eyes swept slowly across the people she passed. The chatter around mixed with the sound of the waves below. The smell of salt, the distant scent of fire... if she thought too much on it...

   Neni took a deep breath and rolled those unpleasant memories out of her head with more pressing considerations. Obviously she would need to figure out what to cook first, what to preserve. He had asked for snacks as well. Maybe she could use some of the more leafy vegetables, thin slices of the fish. She wondered how much vinegar was in his home. She had already made sure there was plenty of salt to cure what would not be eaten soon enough. The ever quiet... servant... had been helpful in lugging the heavy pots to the kitchen. 

Maybe she could see if there were any berries to make a compote with.

   Neni wished she had her father's note filled cookbooks. It had an extensive section on Vylbrand cuisine, especially the kind that the people of Limsa adored. Besides fish and popoto chips, Neni herself was not a large fan of the food to be found.

   She came to a stop as the sunlight dimmed above her. The young woman turned her head upwards to see thick grey clouds consuming the sun allowing only pitiful shafts of light to filter out. "Oh no." She had to hurry! She began a light jog across another section of plankwork that rattled unnervingly beneath her feet, then followed the curling white stone ramp that led below to another section of the city where she continued to mutter the directions.

   The Hyur paused again.

   She was beneath the Drowning Wench, where three men lingered beneath the ramp, vaguely yeasty smelling barrels sat atop boxes that had been left in place for so long that some sort of mold was gathering around their bottoms, and hushed conversations drifted about with no source in sight. She was not entirely certain she had followed the directions right but at least she ended up close to the meeting spot.

   "Hey you! Girl!"

   Neni had an awful feeling about responding, but her manners would not let her leave. "Yes?" She turned to see the three men had turned their attention to her.

   "You look like the hardy sort," one man, a Roegadym, said. "Are you lookin' for a job?"

   Neni shook her head, "oh no. I'm actually sort of doing one right now." She gestured to her basket.

   "Ah being an errand girl doesn't pay well does it? You got any skills besides carrying a basket?"

   She tipped her head, wondering if she was being insulted. "Well I do conjury work in Gri-" The Roe's eyes went wide.

   "A conjurer!?" He gasped.

   "Are ya a free one, lass?" One of the men besides the Roe asked. "Any ship would be more than grateful to have a conjurer on board!"

   She placed her free hand on her hip. These were sailors looking to recruit it seemed, "well I would not use the word 'free'. Also I'm afraid I don't have much of a stomach for the sea."

   "Aye, same for most," the Roe shook his large head. She heard footsteps, many of them, coming up behind her. "But a few moons out and it'll be as though you were born in a storm! Why, even my first mate spent most of his first journey heavin' over the side."

   "Mayhaps one day I'll be brave enough to join a crew," Neni said with a smile, "but I'm already rather content with my current forms of employment. Thank you for your offer though."

   The Roe sighed, shaking his head while the other man spoke, "lass, I don't think yer understandin' the situation yer in. We ain't givin' a choice."

   Pirates. She had been trapped by a group of pirates. She cursed herself for not politely excusing herself earlier.

   Neni felt a heavy hand squeeze her shoulder. Knots looped into her heart and her flesh felt cold, her hands going slack as she turned her head just slightly so she could peer out of the corner of her eye at a scarred Midlander man. "Don't touch me," she hissed through a strained grin. The knots in her heart undid themselves as the ambient aether around her exploded into a whip of water that sent the man fulms backwards.

   "Now, now, there's no reason to be violent," the Roe said gently as the tossed man was helped back to his feet by a dozen other people that had stood behind her. "But, we can do this the painful way, if you were wondering. I just prefer to recruit with minimal fights."

   "I have made my decision clear," Neni insisted. She brought her free hand to her arm, fingers pressing to the bandages that hid the torn flesh from view. Her heart was beginning to drum, and she could smell fire and salt again. "I do not wish to join, and I have somewhere to go."

    "Painful way it is I guess," the Roe sighed regretfully.

   "Captain Blauwyrn!"

   Every head turned to a cheery looking white haired miqo'te boy that stood beside the ramp leading upwards. His mouth broke into a wide smile while he held a grimoire in one hand. Neni took a few steps forward, ready to set the basket down and toss herself at the pirates if they showed even the slightest intention of hurting M'rhi. She would not allow it. Even without her staff she refused to let it happen. She was not powerless, she told herself.

   "M'rhi Tia!" The Roe took a step back in shock. "What are you doing here?"

   "Captain Blauwyrnm, why haven't you paid the 43,428,393 gil that you owe to Melvaan's Gate for the sixty three tonze of hidden cargo you had forgotten to put on your manifests for the past three years?" The miqo'te asked cheerfully, as if he was simply speaking of an interesting fact. A few of the pirates were beginning to unsheathe swords or axes, but the boy seemed plainly unperturbed. Indeed, it was the captain who was turning pale. Neni reached into her boot, eyes locking onto one of the pirates who was closest to M'rhi, an axe in his hands... his back was turned to her...

   "Look, it may have slipped my mind a few times..."

   "If I were you, I would quickly go to the Gate and explain the situation." M’rhi was still smiling.

   Silence settled for a moment, before Captain Blauwyrnm began walking forward. Neni felt his massive hand grab her arm nearly jostling her knife into her ankle.

   "Just you and your crew are needed, Captain Blauwyrnm," M'rhi spoke.

   Blauwyrnm stood still, staring down at the miqo'te boy.

   "I'm not against doing this the painful way, if you were wondering," M'rhi said with the same happy tone, echoing Blauwyrnm's own words with a smug grin.

   Neni felt Blauwyrnm's hand release her. "C'mon then. To the gate!" He barked at the other pirates as he stomped away. The other pirates cast glares at M'rhi and Neni but obediently followed their captain.

   She quickly ran over to M'rhi, setting the basket down and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Rhi, what were you thinking? They could have hurt you!" She said, breathless as terrible 'what ifs' filled her mind. Her hands tightened slightly around his shoulders as her imagination conjured awful images. Too much blood.

   M'rhi stared at her for a brief second before turning his gaze down to the basket. "Oh! Cornbread!" He said as he reached down to snatch a loaf from the basket. He broke off a small bit and stuck it into his mouth, his ears perking and tail swishing while he took off another chunk.

   "Rhi, listen to me, those men could have k-" Neni's words were silenced by a chunk of cornbread M'rhi stuck into her mouth.