#I imagined that screenshot as later in the ARR MSQ when A'vi would come across this place and remember this moment with Laqa...

[avirael]

FFxivWrite 2023

Day 25 - Call it a Day

With a hiss the arrow left his bow, shot through the air and hit its target. It landed right into the Sandskin Peiste’s left eye and the creature, already studded with arrows all over it’s body, finally broke down defeated.

A'viloh marvelled at the other Miqo'te’s archery skills. Maybe one or two of A'vi’s own arrows had found their target while all the others had missed or didn’t even fly far enough. His skills had improved a little over the last few weeks but alone he would never ever manage to take such a monster down.

When Laqa did it though, it seemed so absurdly easy! The way he fought, the unflinching look in his golden eyes, every single one of his movements, the way he went still amid the turmoil before letting the arrow fly - it all mesmerised A'viloh.

"Phew! That was a tough one.", the blonde Miqo'te said and ran the back of his hand over his forehead as he turned to A'viloh. "You think three ones will be good enough to impress Gundobald?"

The two of them had arrived at Little Ala Mhigo around three months ago and while they had managed to befriend a few people, a lot of them remained wary of them. The most stubborn of them was Gundobald, who was unfortunately also the leader of this settlement. He tolerated them so far but winning his sympathy seemed like an impossible task. For U'laqa however this was more of a challenge than a hindrance and he took on every possible task that might enhance their reputation in the Ala Mhigan’s eyes. Today that had meant decimating the Peistes which had increased more and more around the settlement over the last few weeks.

"I don’t think anything is enough to impress Gundobald." A'viloh laughed. "You could bring down a Primal all by yourself and all you‘d get would be one of his stoic huffs."

U'laqa chuckled and yanked the arrows from the Peiste‘s corpse. "You‘re right. It just bugs me that I can’t win that stubborn old man over…"

"Ah yes... I can see how that‘s a heavy blow for someone as much-loved as you!", A'viloh teased.

Laqa handed him some of the arrows, then leaned down and planted a small kiss on A'vi’s lips. "I don’t care if they love me or not as long as you do, Vi…"

"You know that I always will, no matter how many monsters you can fight…", A'viloh blushed and fidgeted with the arrows in his hands. "...but if you want to we could try to take out another one."

U'laqa shook his head. "Nah! It‘s enough for one day."

"Alright, but I will try to aim a little better next time…", A‘viloh promised.

Laqa grinned and winked at him. "Maybe you actually would if you concentrated on what I taught you instead of staring at me half of the time."

"I am not!", A'viloh protested.

"Yes you are!", the other teased and nudged him.

A'viloh giggled. "Why would I? It’s not like you look distractingly handsome when you’re fighting…"

"You’re flattery isn‘t going to save you from target practice, Vi!", U'laqa teased, took his hand and pulled him along.

For a while he let A'viloh shoot arrows at a cactus from various distances, giving advice and correcting his posture, the later with a little more physical contact than would have been strictly necessary - Focus, Vi!, he teased knowing very well what he was doing - before he pressed a kiss to A'vi‘s cheek from behind and announced: "I guess that’s enough. Let’s call it a day."

A'viloh went to get his arrows while Laqa lay down under a big green tree nearby, that defied the blazing sun and offered them a patch of comfortable shadow. A'viloh sat down beside him and observed the view. Little Ala Mhigo at their backs, the landscape of Broken Water stretched out in front of them, the road leading towards Camp Drybone at their left and the ancient ruins of the Belah‘dian temple to their right. Not a soul to be seen far and wide.

"This is a nice spot, isn’t it?", A'viloh asked and looked down to Laqa.

"Mhmm… I really like the view.", he answered, deliberately looking at A'viloh instead. The red-haired Miqo'te looked at him as if he wanted to say Don’t be silly! but U'laqa reached out for him and pulled him down towards himself before he could say another word.

And as they lay there in the grass together, just the two of them, away from the prying eyes of Little Ala Mhigo, A’viloh thought that this had to be the best place in the world.