#dwcmay2024

[ricard-blythe-ffxiv]

DWC - Day 1 - Appearance/Mysterious

@daily-writing-challenge

To anyone looking in from the outside the gathering would have had the appearance of a typical family meal. 

The patriarch seated at the head of the table, nursing his coffee and flipping through whatever papers seemed to have garnered his attention this particular morning. His wife seated beside him, quietly (and not so subtly) eyeing their only son who seemed blissfully unaware of the scrutiny - or perfectly content to ignore it. 

In fact this was quite typical in the Blythe household whenever Ricard stopped by to ‘visit’ in order to keep his mother from stopping by his estate unannounced (a strategy that while it sounded good was ineffective in practice), but one step inside the room would have given away that this particular morning was anything but typical…if  the tension was anything to go off of. 

Even the staff had been unwilling to stay in the room for long, only stepping in long enough to refill a drink or to remove a plate and quickly scurrying away, leaving the three to their rather heavy silence that no one quite seemed willing to break.

Or no one had, until Catherine Blythe’s tolerance for silence had been reached.

“Enough is enough. Where the hell were you for the last three weeks, Ricard?”

“Catherine…surely there was a more tactful way to ask the question…” Beside her, the silence now broken, Gerald sighed heavily, setting the paper he’d been ‘scanning’ down and reaching for his coffee before glancing between his wife and his son. 

“Perhaps, but I’d rather get a straight answer and someone is rather adept at side-stepping questions if given the opportunity. Besides, there’s no one in here but the three of us, and you don’t care if I curse and you,” she pointed across the table at Ricard who was looking entirely too amused for his own good, “- seem to find new ways of making me curse on a daily basis. Now answer the question, son.”

“A question for a question. Why does it matter? As I told father - I informed him and the office that I wouldn’t be in but would be available if needed and all the work was handled. There were people at the estate who could get a message to me if they needed to. And - as we’ve previously discussed - my private life is very much my own and I will share when I’m good and ready to.”

Gerald cleared his throat gently. “...You did say you were going to stay out of things, dear…”

A decision that clearly wasn’t well thought out, as he winced back in his chair as his wife’s attention whipped over in his direction. 

“That was before our son decided to disappear for almost a month without leaving any indication of where he was going or who he was going with.” She turned back towards Ricard, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t care how old you are, Ricard, you are still my child, and as foolish as it is I worry about you when you disappear like that. So you could be a bit more considerate and perhaps tell us where in the hell you’re -”

A heavy sigh left him as he reached up and ran a hand through his hair, glancing up at the ceiling for a long moment as his mother continued her lecture. 

He considered waiting for a ‘good’ moment, he really did. But there wasn’t going to be one, and what better way to break his mother out of one of her tirades than to shock her off course?

“I’m courting Cordeila Gray.”

Gerald coughed, nearly spitting out his coffee - managing to lower the cup to the table before slowly turning to look at his wife who had, rather abruptly, stopped talking and was staring wide-eyed at their son.

Rare was the event that could shock Catherine Blythe into silence.

“...What was that, Ricard?”

Ricard grinned - a shit-eating grin to be sure, but a grin nonetheless - before finishing off his coffee. He stood, adjusting his vest and brushing a few imaginary crumbs off of his slacks before giving his father a gentle pat on the shoulder and moving around to kiss the top of his mother’s head. 

“I thought it was quite clear. I’m courting Cordelia Gray. The last three weeks I was gone because I was with her at her family estate. Don’t worry - everything is by the books, no foul play, nothing out of the ordinary. I’ll be organizing a dinner in the next few weeks for the four of us to sit and spend some time together, so how about you don’t show up at her door-step this time, hm? Since I’m actually providing you with a first and last name this go ‘round.”

He offered a wave over his shoulder as he moved towards the door. “Father - I’ll see you at the office next week. Mother - perhaps you should take it a bit easy today. You look like you’ve just had a shock.” A quick wink and he was through the doors and gone, leaving the elder Blythes to themselves and their thoughts.

“...Gerald?”

“Yes, dear?”

“Did he just say he was voluntarily courting someone…”

Gerald’s stunned gaze shifted from the door, where Ricard had been standing moments before over to his wife. “...he did.”

“And he told us who it was. Said he was going to arrange a dinner and all - I didn’t imagine that.”

“No…no you did not.”

“And we’re certain that was our son?”

“I would assume so - otherwise it was a mysterious stranger who wanted to come in and deal with the questions you often put forth to our son…”

The stifling silence returned for a long moment before Gerald realized his mistake. “I didn’t mean it that…” He’d barely started to speak when the croissant hit him between the eyes and he sighed. 

Fortunately for him, Catherine’s attention was already turned back towards the empty doorway - one could almost see the wheels in her head turning. 

“Leave them be Catherine.”

“I know…I know. It’s just….he was betrothed once before and that fell through, and this is only courting - just to be sure I don’t think it would hurt if I…”

“It would.” Gerald stood reaching down and taking his wife’s hand, gently urging her up out of her chair and looping her arm through his. “Leave them be. We’ve met the woman once before, we’ll meet her again, and whatever happens will happen. Do not press.”

She huffed as the pair exited the room…she’d leave things be for now. 

But she never had been one to ignore a good mystery. 

She and her son had that very much in common.

Mentions: @promethea-silk

[edalene-slater-ffxiv]

DWC - Day 3 Shame/Favorite - May 2024

@daily-writing-challenge

She should have been used to it by now. 

Receiving rather significant news by letter - days after the fact - was becoming something of a trend and one she was likely going to have to get used to, if for no other reason than because her job took her away from Blackwater for days at a time.

It didn’t stop the irritation she felt towards her brother every time she got one of these letters…especially since she’d just left Ishgard days before.

Edalene sighed, reading over the letter’s contents for what felt like the hundredth time, oblivious to the sounds of the Smoking Crow behind her until the glass in her left hand was refilled, almost starling her into spilling the freshly filled contents onto the poor soul who had been brave enough to sneak up on her blind side.

“Easy there, just looked like you could use another drink, that’s all.”

“Gods damn it - I’ve warned you about sneaking up on that side….”

That earned her an easy grin as the barkeep moved around, bottle in hand, and took a seat beside her on the bench, overlooking the port - sounds of the full bar muffled behind them. 

“Care to share what’s got you distracted? Normally there is no sneaking up on you.”

Edalene’s good eye shifted over  before she lifted her glass to her lips, taking a long sip - considering her options, clearly debating.

“...I’m an aunt. Twice over.”

A hand clapped her on the shoulder. “Should be drinking then - that’s a good thing, aye? What’s got you all worried then? Trying to pick a favorite or somethin’?”

“If this wasn’t good whiskey I’d throw it at you.” She took another long sip. “No - not trying to pick out a favorite, the way my brother describes them they’re both quite adorable - I haven’t even seen them. Don’t know when I’ll get a chance to get back and see them. Sounds like they were born a day or two after I left - which was a shame.”

“So what’s got you knotted up?”

“I don’t know - that’s the issue. Something in this-,” she tapped the letter resting against her leg,”- seems…off, but I can’t pinpoint what it is. Don’t suppose it much matters. I’m not there to deal with the consequences of whatever it is. My job is here, aboard the Sirensong.”

The barkeep reached over, refilling her glass with a low hum. “Can’t even gander a guess?”

“I haven’t been able to guess what my brother was going to do for  the last year. Now that he’s a father? I’d be more willing to guess what the weather is going to do.”

“There are people trained to do that, you know.”

“I know - and they’re often wrong.” She pointed at the bottle, as she downed the contents of her glass. “Your bottle is empty and so is my glass - we’d best head inside.”

She waited for him to scoff and head back into the bar before tucking the letter away with a tired sigh. For over a year she’d been trying to guess how her brother was going to react - a favorite pastime of hers, and for over a year she had been guessing incorrectly, which irritated her to no end. But in this case, she had a fairly decent guess for how she imagined he was going to respond.

It was a matter of waiting to see how things played out. And Edalene was nothing if not patient…

Even if that meant waiting for another gods forsaken letter.

[ricard-blythe-ffxiv]

DWC - May 2024 - Day 4 Drama

@daily-writing-challenge

“Do you think she killed him?”

Delwyn Baines had been working for Ricard long enough to know several things. 

One - Victor, Ricard’s manservant, was terribly frightened of Catherine Blythe. To the point where the younger man was often tongue tied and panicky in the older woman’s presence. Fortunately for him, he rarely ‘faced’ the elder Blythe alone - Delwyn (or Ricard) was often there to serve as ‘back-up’. 

Two - If Catherine showed up to the Milner estate unannounced, it was because Ricard had done something to provoke her. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally - but one way or the other, he’d poked a button and that button demanded a response. 

Three - Things were never dull. 

The Highlander chuckled, not even bothering to fold down the paper he was reading as he listened to the raised - but muffled - voice of the older woman on the other side of Ricard’s office door, quickly followed by an amused sounding response from Ricard.

“No, Victor - I don’t think she killed him. That would prevent her from getting those grandchildren she’s always after him for.”

“Well…what do you think she’s yelling at him for then?”

Delwyn scoffed. “Can fathom a guess or two. I mean, you did see the shit-eating grin he came back with after last weekend’s breakfast, right?”

Victor started to answer before straightening up as the door to Ricard’s office opened and Catherine Blythe walked out, turning to glare back inside the office for a long moment. “Two weeks, at most, Ricard. You weren’t courting the woman the last time we sat down with her or else it would have been a very different conversation. I expect that you will make these arrangements or I will do it for you.” 

Delwyn lifted the paper a bit higher, glancing around the edge as Ricard stepped out and leaned against the doorframe. 

“Mother - I think you need to go home and have a drink. Maybe relax. Call father home. Have an orgasm or two. Just take a breath. You’ll get to talk to her, eventually. There isn’t a rush.”

Delwyn managed to fight back his scoff as Catherine’s gaze narrowed at her son. 

“There is, because I know you.”

“And I know you - just take a deep breath or a few hundred deep breaths. I’ll set something up in a week or two.”

“You have two weeks, son. Two weeks.”

Ricard managed to keep from rolling his eyes until his mother turned and started to walk down the hall. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose with a tired sigh, holding a hand up in Delwyn’s direction before the other man started to speak. 

“Don’t say a fucking word.”

“I mean…don’t really have to boss - family drama speaks for itself…” It was at Delwyn that he rolled his eyes this time before turning to head back into his office, leaving the other man just to chuckle. Things were rarely boring…but that was all part of the fun.