question for yuri, the lastborn, and blighted trahearneāfave physical feature on each person (self & the others)?
(rubs my shitty little fly hands together)
Yuri
@ himself:
His legs, for running like hell when shit hits the fan LOL. He doesn't think about himself very much, but if you were to ask him, I think he would say something like that. There's an extra layer of significance to them, what with the Orrian diaspora living with one foot in the ocean and one on shore, not taking terra firma for granted, and being forced out of their homeland to wander abroad. Also this sentiment that the Museum of Walking impressed on me, that walking is like knowing a place, kissing the ground.
otherwise I think he might say his hair. It takes time to style and care for, so he must enjoy it on some level.
@ trahearne:
Impossible to narrow down to a single trait, and I imagine this will be a theme.
I think Yuri was arrested by Trahearneās silently-amused/knowing eyes, after they met at Claw Island. The resting gay nod. A funny side-effect of meeting Trahearne in the middle of a crisis is that seeing him out-of-action for the first time comes as a surprise. Like, this is The Same Guy. Itās a far cry from his serious and sometimes grim Pact Marshal demeanor, but at the same time it's not really that different. (Aside: when Yuri realizes that this isnāt rare for him, he just finds himself so burdened with responsibility that he doesnāt have time to put it all aside, Yuriās heart bweaks.)
Also his coattails and āsecond skinā of armor in generalā¦ā¦.. Trahearne gets a kick out of it when Yuri sidles his hands under there, but I think Yuri gets inordinately excited. He loves ruffling his hair, his collar, the combination body hair / coat lapels that run down his chest, all of it.
Yuri also thinks Trahearneās jawline and "beard" are so handsome. And when his pseudo-snakebites catch on his lips when they kiss. Well. Thatās just what itās all about, isnāt it
@ the lastborn:
Yuri was intimidated by the Lastbornās attention because of a lot of reasons, but one of those reasons is because he thinks the Lastborn is a beautiful person from toe to tip. Like YES he thinks Trahearne is unattainably handsome in his own way, but the Lastborn has an ethereal or fey-like quality to him that makes him truly untouchable to Yuriā¦ Even though heās been serving āBorn on a mountain / raised in a cave / truckinā and fuckinā is all that I craveā since the moment they met.
If he had to point to specific areas, I think it would be his wrists, neck, and shoulders. Theyāre elegantly lithe but inelegantly lanky/gangly at the same time, in the way a fawnās legs are. Also his stomach. I think the exposed area where his "coat" comes apart feels velvety soft, like the flat of an agave blade.
Yuri also gets a kick out of the Lastborn's yucca mane for concealing his body, the way clothes or armor otherwise would. Getting a flirty peek of collarbone feels special. It helps that the yucca blades are so sharp, he feels privileged when heās allowed to be physically close with him.
Aaaaand his profile in general is handsome to Yuri, especially the broad curve of his nose and the way his eyelashes hang over his lidded eyes. He feels like the Lastborn is truly Seeing him, even when heās just absently glancing at him.
Lastborn
@ himself:
His scar. Iām not sure how he gets it, but itās probably from his time in the Nightmare Court. To him, it marks him as irreparably ābrokenā in the eyes of both the Grove and the Courtāhe is neither the Pale Treeās perfect step-son, nor is he the Courtās little prophet-prince. He doesnāt belong to them anymore and heās free to be his own dude.
@ trahearne:
š Youāre so vain. You probably think this post is about you. Youāre so vain. (so vain.) I bet you think this post is about you, donāt you, donāt you?
Anyway. God. Where does he begin. I think the severity/sharpness of Trahearneās features left an impression on the Lastborn, when they first met. Like, he had been fed such an idealized picture of The Firstborn ā¢ (good and bad.) It disarms him to realize that YES Trahearne has a presence and is handsome in his own way, but itās a rugged handsomeness. He has nicks in his leaves and gnarled corking on his arms and his shoulders and elbows stick out at awkward angles, sometimes. This guyās been all over, and he isnāt pristine like the Firstborn who stayed in the Grove.
This sentiment also allows him to help Trahearne, as he reconciles with the scars he got from battling Mordremoth. They give Trahearne a little bit of dysphoria, because theyāre a painful reminder of his failures in Maguuma, and they're not what anyone imagines when they think of him. But the Lastborn met him so late in his life that theyāre an indelible part of Trahearne's image, in his mind's eye. The Lastborn thinks of them the same way he thinks of his own scar--that theyāre a visual reminder that heās free to be his own dude now. And he also just thinks theyāre hot LOL.
What elseā¦ That heās a short twunk is endearing, sure, but I think the Lastborn genuinely loves what a solid little dude he is. In the same way that he loves how soft Yuriās body is, itās comforting to drape himself over someone who is physically sturdier? stronger? than him. When they start to get closer and Trahearne gets to be more physically affectionate with him, it really makes him feel held.
Heās also a little envious of his nighttime glow. The Lastborn doesn't have one, and it clearly identifies that something is "wrong" with him in the eyes of most Sylvari. But he also just thinks it suits Trahearne that he can always see himāhowever faintlyā even when it gets dark.
@ yuri:
God. Not to be like this, but during their flight from Maguuma, I think the Lastborn saw Yuriās warm eyes looking up at him with exhausted gratitude and felt something for the first time in years. The Lastborn is embarrassingly fixated on how warm and tender he is in general. Not just emotionally, but physically warm, soft, unarmedāno sharp edges on him, like there are on the Lastborn. He doesnāt have to restrain himself to be around other people, he can just be with them.
Also his scent LOL. Yuri is well-groomed, but I think the innate smell of his skin is novel and exciting to the Lastborn. He likes that he can smell him on his clothes or his bedding, and it doesnāt get lost the way his own scent might.
The Lastborn also has an oral fixation loves his mouth and nose, just the shape of his face in general. Again because thereās not a single hard edge on him, and because he thinks he's hot. But Also because he's charmed by how openly Yuri expresses himself, he smiles so widely and frowns so deeply. The Lastborn doesnāt have to guess what heās thinking, itās usually written on his face. Heās very honest in that sense.
Trahearne
@ himself:
Not sure if āfavoriteā is the word, but I think Trahearne has a complex relationship with the unarmored parts of his body. I think it reminds him of the vulnerability he felt, during those first hours he spent under the Tree, newly emerged. Just him and the whole wide world.
I think he also has a similar relationship with the ground as Yuri does, where keeping his feet and hands exposed keeps him in physical touch with his surroundings. Heās well-armored, but itās a conscious choice not to close himself off completely.
@ yuri:
His hands. Sorry this is a basic answer for this audience, but I think they would have been the first point of physical contact for Trahearne. They were also the only part of Yuriās body that was exposed (i mean, besides his face) when he was still wearing his Pact uniform. Trahearne was lucky enough to learn the rest of his body, but his hands were first.
After Yuri becomes a shambling war spirit, I think this fascination with his hands is re-awakened by the fire magic that Yuri stole from Balthazar. Trahearne would never admit it-- he knows what a fraught relationship Yuri has with Balthazar, and for a while, itās difficult to see him as a pale shadow of the man he knew. He would also rather die than admit that, because it IS powerful magic, it feels physically good to him and to the Dragon. But still, heās fascinated with Yuriās control over it. It seems effortless for him to take command of something violent and unpredictable. Trahearne struggles to wrap his head around it, when heās had to fight tooth and claw to control his own Mordy powers.
Trahearne loves all of him though, I think he takes quiet joy in giving and receiving physical affection. He's lucky that Yuri is a big guy with a lot of love to give. Getting a hug is like getting bodied, and thereās no shortage of chest or stomach real-estate to rest his head on.
@ the lastborn:
I think Trahearne shares a little bit in common with Yuri, in that he initially sees the Lastborn as someone he doesnāt know how to ābeā around. But the similarities end there. For him, itās because the Lastborn has always been framed as dangerous, strange, and other to him. His body was made for a desert far away from the Grove, with plants that arm themselves and shrink from the sun. They donāt aggressively associate with one another the way a forest understory does, so they seem to him to be unfriendly and inhospitable (if strangely beautiful.) This is very much how he feels about the Lastborn before they get to know each other, to the point that the Lastborn notices how unwilling Trahearne is to do his usual microgestures, like touching shoulders or grabbing hands, and this stings.
(The Lastborn was also created to chew on the roots of the Pale Tree with his weird little mandibles, so. that's a lot to take in.)
This changes bigtime when Trahearne starts to appreciate how much they have in common. I think he learns to love him truly, not for some austere beauty that exists ādespiteā his thorny exterior, but just as he is. The blighting pod exaggerated his own thorns and sharp edges, after all. They arenāt so incompatible with one another.
I think he also enjoys the Lastbornās mane for the same reason Yuri does, and the same reason he finds Yuri undressing to be hot (removable clothes are a funnie concept to guy whose skin is also his clothes.) Tousling it, fussing with it, getting past it is a ritual. Itās always there to keep his hands busy while they gossip.
What else... Trahearne has a strong knee-jerk reaction to his scar, as well, because he initially sees the Lastbornās face as a sole touchstone of familiarity. It reminds him that he's looking at the face of someone from the Grove, someone who is part of his family... And may or may not be strangely handsome in a way he doesnāt trustā¦ But then the scar reveals his underlying mandibles, and the illusion is broken.
Later on, he realizes that heās drawn to it more than he is pushed away by it, and this feeling supplants any feelings of repulsion/othering he used to have. The scar mostly reminds him of Malomedies. It seems terribly unfair that someone would do something so violent to him, and it would stay with him so permanently, but he is learning to appreciate it from the Lastbornās perspective.
