#anyroad i should stop reading spoilers

[lalalaugenbrot]

by now my expectations for kde are on the ground but maybe thats a good place to start

[xiv-wolfram]

Begin Again - Comic Script

Endwalker - lvl 90

FINALLY!!! WolfBahn together again! (Endwalker Spoilers)

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

This is the script for a future comic. Posting for those who don’t want to wait to get the story. Numbers indicate frame number. A/B mean a frame is split.

Part 1

A) Frame of Wolf lying next to Zenos on Ultima Thule. Narrator - “On Ultima Thule, after defeating Zenos, Wolfram died.” B) Wolf’s eyes shutting.

Scene of him waking up on the Ragnarok. Narrator - “Only for a few minutes, but the powers of hope and love (Dynamis) brought him back just enough for his friends to heal him. He woke briefly on the Ragnarok before falling unconscious again."

Shot of bedroom in Leveilluer mansion. Wolf is laying on the bed wearing a loose tunic. Raubahn is sitting in a chair next to the bed reading (anemos suspenders). Wolf *groan* *yawn*. Narrator - "Once back on Etheirys the Scions brought him to the Leveilluer mansion to recover. His friend and former partner Raubahn has been by his side for hours waiting for him to awaken."

Wolf opens his eyes and smiles - "Rau…You're here." (book on table) Rau grins, leaning forward - "Aye, of course I am Wolf. You said you would return. Although I hear you tried to break that promise.”

A) Wolf smiles guiltily - “Aye, but I swear it was a last resort. To save the others.” B) Rau beaming - “Well, I suppose a half promise was enough. You're alive.“

Wolf sits up, brow furrowed, touching his hand to a new scar on his mouth. Thought - ‘Suppose they know me well enough by now to leave one.’ Says - "By some miracle, I am. Where are the others? I was barely conscious on the ship, but heard a lot of crying."

Rau smiles awkwardly - "My apologies. I told them to get some rest. It's been several hours since you landed and they looked exhausted. They were all very hesitant to leave yet I insisted…" 

Rau ponders - "Thancred seemed strangely protective. He said “Be gentle with him.” and locked the door on his way out. Not sure why, perhaps he took a knock to the head?"

Wolf grins - "Aye, he likely did." Wolf thinks - 'Good ol’ Thancred and his meddling.'

Rau looks away and blushes - "Then I... bathed you and got you into these clothes. I know they had stopped the bleeding without removing the armor but…leaving you like that felt wrong to me." Rau thought - ‘The tattoo was a pleasant surprise.’ Wolf embarrassed, blushes.

Rau looks at him, worried - "Wolf, there was just *so much* dried blood. Your clothes were soaked in it. I hope I didn't overstep."

Wolf looks away, completely red - "Th-thank you. No, you did nothing wrong. I appreciate your care." Thought - ‘I shouldn’t be embarrassed by this. Nothing he hasn’t seen before. I need to focus.’

Rau smiles with concern - "I know I said we had much to discuss but - perhaps you should get some more rest first?" 

Wolf sits on the edge of the bed, taking Rau's hand, looking into his eyes, very seriously. "No, I’ll be alright for now. I have something to say and you've waited long enough as it is."

Wolf smiles sadly - "Rau, I thought I was going to die... I believe I did for a little while. I thought it was the end."

Rau holds his hand, surprised - "I-um…I'm glad you were wrong." Thought - ‘He DIED?!?!’

Wolf, looks away staring at nothing but unphased keeps talking. "Raubahn I… I don't deserve you. I never have. Many moons ago on that rooftop in Ala Mhigo I rejected your love because I thought I was a danger to you.”

Wolf looks back at Rau, earnest expression - “It was horrible of me… and it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. What every part of my being wanted to do - what I *should* have done - was tell you the truth. Ever since you left me all those years ago my only goal in life has been becoming a man worthy of you. Knowing full well it would be impossible - I tried anyroad.”

A) Rau beams, tears pooling in his eyes. Thought - ‘This whole time?! He’s this world-renowned hero *for me*?!’ B) Wolf smiles sadly - “I should have told you that when we reunited it took everything in me not to hold you and kiss you and beg your forgiveness right there on the Promenade. How difficult it was once I joined the Flames to be closer to you - to repress how I felt about you and keep everything professional between us. I should have told you that once I had regained your friendship I lived for those moments together. How often I neglected my duties to make time to see you.”

Wolf, looks away, blushing - “I should have told you that… ever since that night in Ishgard that “didn’t happen” my body had been on fire around you. Aching with a need so great I could hardly bear it. And then I should have laid you down in the flower beds of the Menagerie and made love to you… That is what I *should have* done. Instead, a voice in my head told me I could only hurt you… and so I did - thinking it would spare us both future pain. A voice that I now know wasn’t a danger - simply the ghost of a foolish decision. Even once I’d apologized I was still too much of a coward to ignore my own fears. So no - I don’t deserve you.”

Rau blushing, scoffs amusedly - “Wolfram… you just died saving the world. If anything then *I* don’t deserve *you*. Seven hells, I’m in love with a fool.’

Wolf brings his head up, looking straight at Rau - "Indeed you are for I am certainly a fool… Do you know how they say your life flashes before you, before death? All the significant moments?"

A) Rau curious - "Aye, I've heard that. What moments did you see?" B) Wolf has a sort of desperate pleading face "Just one - this". 

Wolf takes hold of Rau’s shirt and pulls him forward into a passionate kiss. Rau surprised, hand on Wolf’s thigh for balance. 

Rau relaxes and kisses him back.

They break. Wolf beaming - "My heart is and has ever been yours. I don't deserve you, but you, Raubahn Aldynn… You deserve the world. I may have just saved it but say the word and I’d conquer the whole bloody thing for you."

Rau laughs - "Becoming a warlord is unnecessary, yet I appreciate the sentiment. Suppose there is less to discuss than I’d thought. I was expecting you to need convincing."

Wolf grins - “I was convinced before I boarded the ship. I had no time to say all this properly… but that’s why I said that I loved you. If I wasn’t going to make it back I needed you to at least know that much. That moment I… I thought of it often while I was there. I'm fairly certain the new possibility of a future with you is what kept me from death's door.'

Rau leans forward more, placing his hand on the edge of the bed, forcing Wolf to lean backward. Grins - "I won’t pretend to understand all of that Dynamis nonsense but - if this is what you saw before death - then we'd best make it a moment worth living for." 

They kiss. Rau leaning forward onto the bed, propping himself up with his right arm. Wolf leaning back onto his elbows.

Part 2 (Spicy)

After some thought - this will probably be better as a fanfic so there's at least a chance people will read the dialogue and character development. For now - they slept together and it was very sweet (and careful, given Wolf's injuries). In a moment of passion, Raubahn said "Marry me." He was immediately embarrassed by the slip. 😅

Part 3

Rau lays to the side facing Wolf, propped up on right arm. Wolf on back leaning towards Rau. Close shot so not lewd. Wolf grinning in amusement. Rau's eyes wide, blushing lightly - "Oh gods! Wolf, I'm so sorry!"

Wolf, grinning, caresses Rau's blushing face - "Why are you sorry? You don't want to marry me?" Thought - 'He's so handsome when flustered.'

Rau looks away, embarrassed smile - "We *just* got back together… you died saving the world and are supposed to be recovering …you recently found out life-changing information about your past and are still processing that …but most importantly - I do believe it is rude to ask someone that question whilst making love."

A) Wolf laughs, covering his mouth with his right hand. - "Ouch! Oh gods, laughing hurts!” B) Wolf smirks - “Well - luckily I've never cared much for tradition or propriety, but you do so - if we're going to talk about this can we clean up and get dressed?" Rau nods, still red.

Wolf sitting in the center of bed leaning against the headboard in a raglan shirt and boxers. Rau sits next to him on the left side in boxers and skyworker singlet, leaning forward looking at Wolf nervously. Wolf ponders with a dreamy expression - "Sharlayan is surprisingly chilly isn't it? No wonder they're inside reading all day." Rau raises an eyebrow.

A) Rau leans back and pinches the bridge of his nose, scrunching his eyes - "Wolfram please!" B) Wolf smiles awkwardly - "Oh aye, sorry love."

Wolf looks at Rau seriously - "I need to know… was that some nonsense you said in the moment or was it you accidentally saying what's in your heart at what you felt was an inappropriate time?"

Rau crosses his arm, side-eyes Wolf and smiles sadly - "I've spent the past thirteen years regretting how things ended and trying in vain to move on… what do you think?"

Wolf beams - "Gladly! Is tomorrow good for you? I should have received sufficient healing by then to stand long enough."

A) Rau uncrosses his arm and looks at Wolf, confused. - "What?" B) Wolf, beaming, answers smugly - "The answer to your question. Yes, I'll marry you. You weren't the only one who lived in regret."

Wolf looking embarrassed - "...and besides, I was days away from asking you the very same before we broke up. So it's not as if the idea had never occurred to me."

Rau smiles at him sadly - "I thought so… I saw the rings when I packed your belongings. …Were you able to hold on to them all these years?"

Wolf smiles sadly - "Aye, they were my parents'. I had no plans to give one to anyone after you but they were all I had left of them so I kept the rings safe. They’re in my belongings."

Rau smiles sadly and gestures for Wolf to sit in front of him - "That's beautiful. Come here Pup."

Wolf sitting in front of Rau leaning against him. Rau's right arm wrapped around him. Rau beams - "So what did you mean about tomorrow? That's a bit short notice isn't it? Don't misunderstand me - I don't want to wait any longer than we already have but - that’s not enough time to plan and invite our friends."

Wolf pouts, looking at the ceiling - "Calf I’m… not sure this is the right time for the world to know… There are political issues to consider, right? I am a public figure as the Warrior of Light, a Scion, and a Lieutenant of the Immortal Flames. Hells, your son is my commanding officer. You are a co-leader of Ala-Mhigo and Commander of its armies. You already have a close relationship with Ul'dah. It would leave room for accusations of favoritism when Ala Mhigo needs aid.”

Wolf ponders - “All of that could be managed with enough diplomacy… but then we add in the recent complications of Garlemald and possibly Thavnair. It's a bit messy." Rau chuckles - “Seven Hells Pup! Sounds like you were listening in all those meetings after all.”

A) Wolf grins *yawning* - “Well you did most of the talking… I may have tuned out some of the other Alliance members though.” B) Rau beams - “I’m impressed. So - tis true we don't know when things will stabilize enough for us to reveal our relationship to the public. Therefore you are suggesting a small ceremony? Just for us? …That sounds nice.”

Wolf *yawning*, turns to the side and nuzzles against Rau’s chest as if to fall asleep right there, smiling - “Mhmm… but perhaps we can work out the details after a nap?” Rau chuckles, wrapping his arms around Wolf - “Aye, I can see I’ve tired you out.”

They lay on their sides facing each other, Rau holding Wolf close to his chest. Wolf, eyes closed, smirking - “You know, it could just be my depleted aether from saving the world.” Rau, eyes closed, grins - “Oh no, it was definitely me.”

Wolf smiles as Rau kisses his forehead.

Wolfram Saga Comics (Chronological)

[dellebecque]

Prompt #1: Voracious

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast Who: WoL!Aden, the people who mattered most to him, and the one and only thing for which he possesses a truly voracious appetite. When: At various points. How: T, some sad stuff, minor difficult themes and allusions to darker themes.  5.0 spoilers, Shadowbringers spoilers. What: vo·ra·cious/vəˈrāSHəs/   having a very eager approach to an activity."his voracious reading of literature" Where: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20487653/chapters/48616682

Aden’s supposed to be  watching  a broody chocobo, making sure she takes to the eggs in her nest right, and much as he loves the birds he sneaks out one of Mam’s travelogues.  He’s not  supposed  to have them in the barn, too much danger of damaging them, but if he’s going to be out here all day….

The bird coos at him in that soft, motherly way only a broody one will, and shifts on her nest, ruffling her feathers slightly.  It’s a clear invitation, he thinks, and he hesitates for a moment.. then settles down next to her, careful of any eggs that might be hidden in the hay.  When he leans against her she makes a pleased trill, and immediately cranes her neck to start grooming his hair. Aden cracks open the book, trying to ignore the shifting and prodding and soft scratch of her beak.  But when she’s done he can appreciate the soft warmth of her large body, the gentle warks and coos, and lull himself into a sweet place free of anxiety as he begins to read.

If the birds like him so much, Ma and Mam  can’t  send him away like Da did.  They’d be  upset  .

____

Minfilia wends her way through the halls of the Waking Sands, asking after their newest member.  When the inevitable  why don’t you call his linkpearl  comes up she merely says, “That’s a good idea,” graciously, and continues on.   It’s rude  , she doesn’t say, knowing that he  should  be in the building.  And impersonal. After their rocky start.. well, she cannot  afford  to be anything less than genuine and forthright.  And her gifts will not avail her so well over long-distance media.

She finds him on the quiet side of the building, in a small room converted into a secondary barracks of sorts.  Stopping in the doorway, she blinks in surprise at finding all of his gear stowed here now, and he himself perched on a high bunk at the back of the room--hadn’t Tataru assigned him to the other side?--and she wonders if that, too, was a mistake.  He reclines in the bunk against extra pillows pilfered from somewhere, a slender book open across his lap. Even with the bandages covering healing burns from his bout with Ifrit he looks more comfortable than she’s seen him so far.

Yes, she thinks to herself, perhaps they’d  all read him wrong.  In his unguarded quiet her gifts show her not the dedicated soldier she saw before, but a thoughtful, introspective man, one who values solitude and a  gentler  camaraderie than many of their members can offer.  Their conversation can wait, she decides. Let the man have peace, and room to process the horror they accidentally put him through alone.

And let her have time to reassess her approach to this familiar stranger, this man her gifts cry  must  be part of their efforts.

______

Aden’s ears twitch at soft footsteps in the dust and scrub of Mor Dhona, and he knows who it is from the gait.  Moments later G’raha flops down next to him with a dramatic sigh, leaning back against the tree. Aden doesn’t look up from his book, even though he knows the man is waiting for a question.

“I think you might read more than  I do,” G’raha says when he doesn’t get his way, bumping his shoulder against Aden’s.  It’d been annoying at first, physical contact unwelcome, but now he…  understands  .  If he’d been raised by other miqo’te this would be  normal  .  It feels right, the right kind of intimate for friends, unspoken and just outside his comfort zone.  He can’t  explain  that, though, that he wants his boundaries challenged, doesn’t want to be silent and uncertain forever.

“They send you away again?”  Aden flips a page.

G’raha doesn’t move, reading over Aden’s shoulder even as he replies.   “They’re taking readings and refused to let me go after what happened last time.”

“That’s chocoboshit,” Aden says.  He knows G’raha isn’t looking for logic, doesn’t want to hear  you’re the most essential personnel on the survey  from one more person.  Aden would hate it just as much were their positions reversed.

“But if you would  accompany  me….” G’raha doesn’t finish but looks up at him hopefully.

“Cid told me if I didn’t take a break he’d drug my lunch.”  Aden flips another page, ears canting in G’raha’s direction when he doesn’t reply right away.  Finally the man gives an indignant huff on his behalf and leans heavily against him once more, reading over his shoulder.

“Wait,” he says, “is this the new one?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you get it all the way out here?”

“Tataru sent it.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and Aden wonders what’s going through his mind. He glances up from his book and thinks he sees the faintest edge of regret in his friend’s mismatched eyes.  “How far are you?” G’raha asks.

“Not far.  Want me to start over?”

There’s another moment of hesitation, this quiet side of his friend devoid of bravado that so rarely appears.  And finally, softly, “Yes, please.”

Aden thinks he knows that feeling too well, but he won’t pry to find out if it’s what it looks like to him.  He doesn’t want to talk about it, anyroad, if it is--to admit that sometimes his apparent stoicism is the memory of rejection and the worry that he doesn’t deserve the kindness of others.  But he thinks the reason G’raha talks too much is the same reason he talks too little, and he’s glad to help his friend smooth over the raw moment by flipping to the front of the book and starting over.

______

“You’ve been home, what, three bells?  And already I find you with another.” Aden looks up from his book, smiling softly as Haurchefant leans over his comfortable seat, reclining on a padded bench in one of the windows in the manor.

“They were here before you,” he says cheekily, lifting up his book for emphasis, “and they’ll be here after you.”

“ After  me!”  Haurchefant clutches a hand to his breast, mocking distress.  “Already you plan to be rid of me! I am  wounded to my core.”  He drops a knee to the side of the bench, lowering himself down to caress Aden’s cheek.  “I should have known I could never satisfy your  voracious  appetites.”

Aden laughs, unable to continue the mock seriousness.  “I could say the same thing about  you .”

Haurchefant leans down to kiss him, insistent, and Aden loses himself in it for a moment.  But at length his lover draws away, leaving him to his book. “Don’t be long.”

He knows that when he’s inevitably up past midnight reading, Haurchefant will merely tease him and welcome him to bed by folding him in the warmth of his embrace.  The judgement is all in jest.

  But in hindsight it’s the only time in his life he wishes he’d read less.

___________

He closes the door to the small cabin behind himself, struggling to find his sea legs around the dizziness and disorientation whirling through his head.  Aden presses a hand to the wall, and has to follow it to the bed. He’s glad for the privacy. Glad Tataru argued so ardently for this. Outside he has to pretend at being whole and hale, intimidating to the pirate crew.  Here he can be alone. Weak. Nurse the half-healed wounds of his body and quietly pick at the festering scabs over his heart on their long journey to Kugane.

But today he doesn’t have the strength for it.  He drops heavily onto the bunk, straining uncomfortable over the edge to open the chest lashed to one end of it, and pulls out the first thing his fingers light upon--a battered old book.  Balm to soothe the aches of his mind.

He curls up on the hard bed, remembering all the places he could’ve been instead, and tries to forget for a little while.

__________

An infirmary is not what the Exarch expects to see through his scrying, but there it is, dark stone walls and pale linens on the bed.  He frowns, leaning forward slightly. Had his actions changed the situation so much already? But--no, it is the Scions prone in the beds.  He flinches--his doing.

The subject of his scrying finally crosses the view of the window, carrying a wooden chair in one hand and a book in the other.  Aden pauses, tail swaying slowly, before he places his chair between the twins’ beds, facing out towards the rest of the room. No one else seems to be present at the moment, and he wonders if perhaps the remaining Scions are taking turns at keeping an eye on their comrades.  Would that he could tell them it’s hardly necessary beyond the upkeep of their bodies. Their time could be better spent elsewhere.

Aden sits, opens the book and looks around the room once more--is that a hint of  nervousness  he detects?  ‘Tis a familiar expression, that subtle anxiety the Warrior of Light tries  very hard  not to show--one he knew in his youth, and knows even better after his years of observation.

He understands why when Aden begins to read aloud to the unconscious Scions.  Aden’s voice is uncertain at first, but as time draws on it grows more confident, rich in its fullness.  He finds himself enraptured by it, drawing back his hood and freeing his ears to hear more clearly. Then he closes his eyes, and remembers a quiet afternoon spent under a tree in Mor Dhona.  This story is familiar, an earlier book in the series. He hasn’t read it in a hundred years.

The summoning can wait for one more story.