#a dawn of gods & fury | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eva-cybele · 2 years ago

Text

wolmeric week day 5: vacation

“You really need to wear something more lightweight than that, your normal clothes would suffocate you in Thavnair,” Kaede called out, her voice muffled by virtue of being headfirst in his closet, sifting through heavy coats and woolen sweaters to find anything that met her standards.

Aymeric smiled wistfully at the sight – it wasn’t long ago that she’d been too weak to do much more than eat and sleep, but now she seemed full of life. The prospect of travel, especially, had brightened her mood considerably, and he only wished they’d been able to do it earlier, if it had this effect on her. Turning his attention back to her words, he hummed thoughtfully and shook his head. “Sharlayan, on the other hand, is quite cold, is it not? And we must go there first, so would it not be better to dress warmly, and change before we depart?”

With a cheerful “aha!” his fiancée – a word that still brought him no end of delight to be able to ascribe to her – emerged from the bowels of his wardrobe with a lightweight linen shirt he hadn’t seen in… well. Years, now. After the Calamity, it had been too damned cold for such things, even at home. Holding it out to him, she raised an expectant eyebrow at his apparently-unsuitable attire. “Just take a coat. We won’t be in Sharlayan long. I won’t have our trip spoiled by a bunch of stuffy scholars sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Now strip, ser. We have a schedule to keep.”

Hiding a small smile, Aymeric obediantly pulled his blue turtleneck over his head and tossed it aside. He could feel Kaede’s eyes rake appreciatively over his torso, and the impulse to seize her and pull her back into bed was strong, but she was right. They had no time for such indulgences, even if she was wearing a lovely off-the-shoulder dress that would make trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone incredibly easy…

Shaking his head to clear it of such improperly timed thoughts, he tugged the thin white shirt over his head, adjusting the cuffs so they lay flat. Strange, to wear something so loose and light that it felt as if he might be wearing nothing at all, after years of weight and warmth. It was also, rather immediately, too damned cold.

Slipping into a long coat, he levered a long, considering look at Kaede as they walked from the bedroom into the foyer, observing the exposed skin of her shoulders and legs for practical reasons this time, rather than carnal. In the past, he would have thought nothing of it – her peculiar aetheric balance kept her body temperature stable in most climes, but in the past two months, since returning from Ultima Thule on the verge of death from aether depletion, she had been rendered incapable of doing so, forced to rely on blankets and coats like the mere mortals around her. “Are you certain that you’re not cold?”

The sharp look she threw his way made very clear what she thought of his fussing, and on an objective level, he knew she had every right to be annoyed. The majority of him, however, could still remember in exquisite detail how pale and lifeless she had looked lying in that bed in the Leveilleur estate, and was determined to worry over her, regardless.

“I believe I will survive a walk down to the plaza without freezing to death, thank you.” Her voice was tart, but her expression softened somewhat as she looked at him. “I really am feeling much better, you know. Shtola and Raha wouldn’t have okayed this trip if I wasn’t more or less fighting fit, and they fuss nearly as much as you do.”

It was true. Her miqo’te mursemaids had watched her aether like hawks, and between the two of them, had mostly-successfully managed to keep their stir-crazy Warrior of Light from doing anything rash that might jeopardize her recovery. As they stood in the entryway, Aymeric turned and leaned down to brush a kiss across her forehead. “Forgive me. It is just that I –”

A small hand reached up to rest lightly over his mouth, quieting him immediately. “I know. It’s alright. Let’s go, shall we?”

She tucked her left hand into the crook of his arm, and didn’t protest when he made sure to position himself to take the brunt of the wind.

The teleport to Sharlayan was relatively easy – it wasn’t terribly far, not much more so than Limsa Lominsa – but it would be the next step that would be difficult. As they stepped into the Confluence, Aymeric shrugged out of his coat and watched as Kaede tucked it into the small bag that held their few belongings. She had declared that they would pack lightly for this trip, carrying naught much more than their weapons, considering that Vrtra had promised them a room at Meghaduta, and it would be easiest to find fitting clothing in Radz-at-Han than anywhere else. She slung the bag over her shoulder, then reached over to squeeze his hand. “I won’t lie to you – the aether sickness from this is not fun. But I’ll be there with you, and it should pass quickly enough. We might want to rest today, but it’s better than spending a month at sea, I promise.”

When she’d first told him of this method of travel without attunement, his first inclination had been to suggest they travel by airship instead – but that would have left them with a lingering tie to Ishgard or the Scions, either one able to easily summon them back for some matter or another. In this way, there was freedom, and a taste of the kind of life she led when she left his bed for one of her wanderings. So he’d agreed, but as he stared up at the experimental aetheryte, he couldn’t help but feel a sinking sense of dread.

The trip through the aetherial sea felt more turbulent than he was used to, and he emerged from its flow like a fish cast upon the beach, short of breath and weak of limb. The first thing he was conscious of was the omnipresent, oppressive heat, soaking into his body from all sides like he’d been dipped, still-clothed, into a hot spring. The second was the feeling of his stomach lurching into his mouth, and he might have crumpled had a small hand not found his forehead, and blessed coolness flowed from it into his body, the aether from the healing spell enough to ground him and enable him to follow her to the shade before he dropped gracelessly to the ground.

“Wait here just a moment, alright? I know something that will help settle your stomach.” He might have protested her departure, had he the strength to do so, but contented himself with leaning back against a brightly colorful stone wall and concentrating on keeping his breakfast – and thank Halone that Kaede had insisted on something light �� where it was meant to be.

A waterskin was pressed into his hands a few moments later, and despite his reluctance, Aymeric took a sip of the drink. It had an almost immediate calming effect, assisted, no doubt, by the steady trickle of aether from Kaede’s hands as she stroked his hair.

By the time the amra lassi, as Kaede had called it, was gone, he felt almost alive again.

Taking a deep breath, he no longer felt as if speaking would cause any unseemly accidents, so he turned his head to find Kaede’s lovely blue eyes fixed on him, filled with a mixture of sympathy and concern. “That was… unpleasant.”

An apologetic smile bloomed across her face, and she brushed a kiss against his temple. “I’m sorry, love. This was the worst of it, though, I swear.”

“Your healing magic feels… gentler, than it used to.” In truth, the few times she had found it necessary to heal him in the past, it had felt like being thrown bodily into a frozen lake. Now it was more like a soft snowfall.

Her expression shifted abruptly to surprise, and then to pride. “Good. I’ve been working on that. I’m glad to see it’s paid off.”

Marzanna’s near death at Zenos’s hands, and Kaede’s subsequent brute force attempts to keep her alive that had drained her almost entirely of vital aether, had necessitated that she finally be formally instructed in the healing arts. So for the past month, while her aether recovered to somewhat normal levels, his home had been turned into a makeshift classroom, as a combination of Y’shtola’s conjury experience, G’raha Tia’s familiarity with light magic, and the strange soul crystal Kaede had brought back from Elpis united to teach one very stubborn swordswoman the intricacies of providing succor and ease, rather than protection or destruction.

As occasionally frustrating that he found having two very opinionated houseguests, it was deeply reassuring to know that this particular brush with death was less likely to be repeated.

He took a deep breath, to suggest that he felt well enough to depart, when two dark blotches blocked out the sunlight to his left, one much larger than the other.

“Fury, you look like shite.” A gruff, familiar chuckle made Aymeric immediately suppress an annoyed eyeroll as his vision adjusted to reveal the forms of Marzanna Kimbatuul and Estinien Varlineau.

Marz slammed her hip against Estinien’s upper thigh and glared up at him. “Don’t make fun. You haven’t had to do this. It’s awful.”

Shoving sweat-soaked hair back from his forehead, Aymeric shook his head with a rueful smile. “I must look pitiful indeed if even you are defending my honor, Marzanna.”

The xaela laughed, and stepped forward to give him a quick look over. “If you want, I have some herbal tonics that might help…”

“That, ah, won’t be necessary. But thank you.” As an alchemist, Marz had entirely different ideas about the kinds of things that were suitable for human consumption than most, and he wasn’t entirely confident that his stomach was settled enough to bear the thought of what she might be giving him.

“Well, I tried.” She stepped back and practically bounced over to Kaede, wrapping her in a giant hug, excitedly chattering at her in a mix of Doman, Xaela, and Eorzean that Aymeric couldn’t even begin to decode.

Meanwhile, Estinien extended a hand, his expression perhaps a touch less mocking than it had been. “Come on then, up with you.”

Aymeric allowed the man to pull him to his feet, pleased to find no unsteadiness or vertigo as he did so. Estinien clapped him on the shoulder as he stepped back, apparently satisfied that Aymeric wouldn’t fall over. “Good to see you. I wager it’ll do you some good to get away from the snow and the politics for a while.”

“It certainly seems to have agreed with you well enough.” The man was tanner than he’d remembered, and the paranoid alertness and simmering anger that he’d carried most of the time that Aymeric had known him was all but dispelled. Estinien shot him a small smile, and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Aye. It has.”

Kaede’s voice caught his ear, and he turned to see his betrothed gently disentangling herself from the arms of her best friend. “You didn’t have to come out to meet us, you know. I remember how to get to Radz.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been bored out of my mind. This is the farthest I’ve gotten to go since I got here.” Marzanna’s voice was a veritable pout and Aymeric shot Estinien a commiserating glance. Neither Warrior of Light was a particularly easy patient, it would seem. “But now that you’re here, maybe we can do something fun! I bought some treasure maps the other day, and there’s been some hunt mark postings, and –”

“Marz,” Estinien interrupted her sharply. “Let the Lord Commander and his lady get settled in before you start trying to drag them into trouble, will you? We’ll see them at dinner.”

An exaggerated eyeroll accompanied her begrudging, “Fiiiiine,” and Marzanna reluctantly walked over to Estinien and looped an arm around his waist. Her gait was a touch unsteady, Aymeric noted, likely due to the fact that one of her bandaged horns was still somewhat misshapen, though much improved from the shattered mess he’d seen it last time.

Estinien gave both Aymeric and Kaede a nod, and then all but dragged Marzanna away before she could change her mind, grousing at her good-naturedly as he did so. “Are you trying to get me killed, woman? You know your brother said you’re not meant to be fighting yet.”

“Oh, come on. I have my bow, and Kaede can apparently heal now, so we’ll stay on the back lines and let you big strong men protect us.” Her tone, even at a distance, made patently clear how hilarious she thought that notion was, and next to him, Kaede chuckled.

“Poor Estinien. He had it worse than you, it sounds like.”

“It would appear so. I begin to count myself fortunate for the patience and grace with which you endured your convalescence.” Aymeric smiled down at her, a light teasing note in his voice, and was rewarded with a laugh and a half-hearted shove against his arm. “Shall we?”

Kaede nodded and looped an arm around one of his, leading him out of the small fishing village they’d arrived in. “It’s a bit of a long walk to Radz-at-Han from here. We could borrow a hamsa if you like, but they’re a bit like dodos. Not the most comfortable to ride, even for me, and probably less so for you. I’ve also heard rumors of hippo carts?”

His stomach did a small flip at the thought of a dodo’s uneven gait, and he shook his head. “Walking sounds lovely. You can tell me all about Thavnair on the way.”

A rare sunny smile broke across Kaede’s face, and she launched into an explanation of the village they had just left – Yedlihmad – and pointed out every landmark they passed, from the large to the small. More than once she dragged him off the main road to look at some thing or another, and Aymeric was content to be pulled around in her wake. After the somber grey of Ishgard and the austere white of Old Sharlayan, Thavnair was a positive riot of color, even outside the walls of the legendarily brilliant Radz-at-Han.

By the time they’d reached the city gates, Aymeric was soaked with sweat, but in better spirits than he’d been in a long time. It was as if he was finally free to release the breath he’d been holding since the first towers appeared all over Eorzea, at last convinced that the danger posed by the Final Days was actually over.

The star was healing, the Empire in shambles, even the Ascians a leaderless shadow of what they were. Kaede was not just alive, but happy, and she had – miracle of miracles – agreed to marry him.

Some new threat would doubtless raise its ugly head, and one or the other of them would be called away to deal with it, but for now, he was determined to enjoy the time they had.

So when Kaede suggested a quick detour into their room at Meghaduta to change clothes before exploring the city, he took the opportunity to lock the door and drag her back into bed for reasons entirely other than rest.

#wolmeric #wolmeric week #yesterday was angst but today is happy dammit #god they deserve it after the hell that was ultima thule #ffxiv writing #eva writes #daughters of dusk and dawn #sons of ice and fury

2 notes · View notes