#outofexploration

Regardless of verse, Aurvael’s relationship with Haurchefant starts off mostly the same*: his brother introducing him to his new friend, stressing that Haurchefant is a boy, regardless of what the grown-ups have said. Aurvael, being Aurvael and quite aware that most grown-ups apart from Mama are full of it, is more than willing to accept this fact for what it is. However, there is a brief period of time wherein he is lowkey jealous of Haurchefant for shoving in on his time with his brother. It’s lowkey because he doesn’t act on it, and it fades away quickly when he realizes just how much Haurchefant needs Steph, and who is he to deny his brother’s sunlight to those most in need?

Once that little bit of jealousy dies down, it’s mostly smooth sailing - he accepts that Haurchefant is there, is Steph’s friend and while a little slower to warm does eventually see him as his own friend, as well. This remains rather steady through the next few years, and doesn’t begin to diverge until the verses themselves split.

* - the one exception to this order of events will be discussed after the others, due to how different Aurvael’s life is in that particular verse.

In the majority of verses, there’s not a lot that changes as the boys grow up, in terms of their relationship. There is a rough spot during Stephanivien’s ill-fated relationship with that social-climbing poor excuse for a Dravanian’s breakfast (who will remain unnamed on pain of Aurvael going on strike and refusing to cooperate for the rest of this discourse). wherein he gets quite angry at Haurchefant because he is the only one who would stand any chance at talking sense into Stephanivien... and he doesn’t. This is further complicated by the fact that Aurvael picks up on the romantic feelings Steph and Haurchefant harbor towards one another fairly early on, and while nothing is confirmed for him he strongly suspects there’s more going on than meets the eye.

He eventually gets past it and forgives him, and their friendship returns to what it is for most verses until the game timeline begins and the paths begin to diverge - that being friendly, though not as close as either is to Stephanivien, with a lot of good-natured teasing. In good end, this is more or less how it stays, although Aurvael develops an ‘allergy’ to Stephanivien and Haurchefant doing anything even vaguely intimate in front of him, reacting in a ridiculous, over-the-top way if he so much as catches sight of a hickey.  (In canon, of course, Haurchefant dies before the relationship becomes public, and so Aurvael never gets to be ridiculous about it.)

In the verse that is generally referred to as ‘blind!au’ and ‘amnesia!au’ for Haurchefant and Aurvael respectively, their relationship undergoes some rather dramatic changes. His friend’s blinding occurs while Aurvael’s out of the city, and while he does his best to be a supportive friend during the former knight’s recovery and adjustment period, there’s a new - if slight - note of uncertainty between them, mostly born of Aurvael not wanting to poke too hard at fresh wounds. There is a brief window of time wherein Haurchefant and Stephanivien’s relationship comes out and Aurvael’s over-the-top responses kick in, but all too soon he’s off on another venture, and this one changes his life completely. 

The Aurvael that returns to Ishgard after going missing (and very nearly presumed dead, for all that his family doesn’t want to give up on him) is a very changed man, and his relationships reflect that and change him further in turn. For a time, he’s distant from everyone, Stephanivien and Haurchefant included - but Haurchefant is quietly patient with him, and doesn’t seem to be hurt by his presence the way virtually everyone else is, so he rapidly grows to trust him and lean on him in a way he doesn’t in any other verse. Even once his memory returns, he trusts him to a greater extent than anyone else, save Steph - and once his relationship with Steph is more or less repaired, he relies on them both more or less equally, and spends a good deal of time seeking refuge in their company.

In kidnapping, his friendship with Haurchefant grows rather strained - but he’s determined not to let it break. He’s well aware that there is a lot of healing to be done, and that it won’t be a pretty recovery at all. To that end, he attempts to be rather patient and keep his good humor - but he is also fiercely protective of Stephanivien, so letting the more negative moments go is.... hard. For the most part, he tries to stay kind and hopeful for the sake of both Haurchefant and his brother, and to try to support Steph in what ways he can in an effort to help both of them. 

Now we come to late fantasia. This verse, along with solar eclipse, branches off at a much earlier point than the others - and Aurvael’s relationship to Haurchefant shifts rather dramatically as a result. His friend’s decision to at least outwardly conform to what society says he should be frustrates and angers Aurvael, who sees it as surrendering everything important for no reason that he can understand. As a result, the friendship shatters, and he spends years avoiding Haurchefant, unwilling to bear the sight of him molded into the image he’s expected to hold. This only begins to repair sometime after Stephanivien and Haurchefant wed, and it takes quite some time for the hurt and awkwardness to ease in both parties. It does, however, eventually heal, and while the scars stay, it recovers enough for them to be at ease with one another.

Solar eclipse, in contrast, is one verse where I can’t see their friendship surviving. Not only is Haurchefant eventually too wrapped up in Stephanivien’s well-being to maintain a relationship of any kind with anyone else, Aurvael himself can see the wreck that both his brother and friend are becoming, and makes the choice to pull away entirely - from both of them. Prior to this point, he was already distancing himself somewhat, after losing his prankmate as Stephanivien attempted to mold himself into a role he did not fit, and by the time things truly come to a head, he’s running himself ragged and staying far, far away from Ishgard as much as he possibly again. 

Honestly, in that verse, he likely distances himself to an alarming degree from everyone caught within the circle of Stephanivien’s slide downhill, and as a result stops considering Haurchefant as a friend long before the inevitable crash.

And now, at the very last, I bring up the verse I have developed the least, that also branches off at the earliest possible point: Aurvael’s very birth. In the as-yet-unnamed verse where his health is fragile, his lungs delicate and his body prone to easy fatigue and frequent illness, Aurvael meets Haurchefant as Steph’s first partner in crime, for though he would enjoy participating in his brother’s pranks, he’s watched too closely to sneak about on them. As a result of his different circumstances, Ayrvael’s relationship with Haurchefant is quieter, but he still sees in the other boy a friend - and one who can share tales of adventure with him. (And who will give Steph a friend who can do the things with him that he only wishes he could do.)

There’s a similar sort of jealousy that forms, akin to the other verses, but in this case it’s less of a juvenile belief  that Haurchefant may be taking his ‘place’ with his brother, and more envy at both Haurchefant and Stephanivien, that they can go out and do what he cannot. This envy is hardly directed at them alone, however, and as he turns it inward more often than not, it manifests as anger at his own unsteady health and results in him attempting to do more than he reasonably can.