#estinien cares

[haunted-xander]

For what do you live?

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[andsylphy]

special estinien lb3

[coldshrugs]

testing me, bad but sweet ✨

happy birthday pigeon (@ahollowgrave) !!

um. i know these are meant to be oc thirst shots but for io, feeling The Most means things are a bit more. involved. :> another (more explicit) one under the cut!

[42wv]

FFXIV x Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS Signer Dragons (and bonus)

[this-is-ris]

Onwards, my knight in Stinky armor!

Brio is back, you know what that means.

Estinien, ladies and gentlethem.

Thank you.

[nuclearanomaly]

I'm glad you're here with me At the end of all things...

[of-the-eventide]

Serpentine. Draconic. Devil. I've heard it all to describe how my people look. I wonder... What would you use?

auraugust 2024 - serpentine

[lilbittymonster]

Day 22: Itch (Free Day #3)

Read on AO3

Estinien walked down the hallway with the bundle of bathing supplies in hand. Kitali had left her coat crumpled on the floor next to one of the doors, and he smiled to himself at the courtesy. At this time of day, the place had been deserted, but better to avoid unnecessary accidents all the same.

He knocked softly on the door frame before sliding in, closing the door quickly behind him. The rest of her clothing was on the bench with room for his. The room was silent except for the steady burble of water flowing through the bathing tub. He stripped, folding the underclothes as neat as he could before stacking his armour into a precarious pile, and dug the linkpearl out of his ear and placed it in the palm of one of the gauntlets.

Kitali was already mostly submerged, staring vacantly at the mosaics of the wall. A stick of incense was burning somewhere and there was a light haze that settled over the water. It was vaguely reminiscent of a hot spring. Estinien slid into the water, trying not to look too hard at the mottled green-black scales out of the corner of his eye as he moved. With a plunge, he ducked his head underwater and wet his hair to begin scrubbing.

As he watched the suds slowly drift away on the current, Kitali floated herself over to him and bumped her head into his arm before sitting up.

“They had lavender,” he said as he handed over the small bottle of shampoo.

With a small hum she took it, and he slid a bit away from her to give her space. Taking up the bar of cheap soap he began lathering his own torso. Haltingly Kitali poured some of the liquid into her hand, and got about halfway through running her hands through her hair before she stopped, staring at something invisible to him in the water’s surface.

“Did you forget how to wash?” he joked.

“Hmm?”

“You just...stopped.”

She sighed, almost going to rub her eyes before catching herself. He frowned as he rinsed the soap from his skin.

“You alright?”

“No.” The word was barely a whisper.

Straightening up again, he took the vial from her and poured a small amount out.

“Here. Turn.”

She obeyed and Estinien worked his hands through her hair until it was full of foam. When he reached her hairline she winced and pulled away. He immediately froze, worried.

“What’d I do?”

“I don’t-” She felt gingerly at her scalp before huffing a laugh and pulling his hands back to touch it. Beneath his fingertips he could feel two symmetrical bumps, small though they were, on either side of her head.

“...are you growing new horns?”

“I think so.” She still sounded distant.

He gently withdrew his hands and scooped some water into them to start rinsing the suds from her hair. Wordlessly she tipped her head back, letting it run clean, and he couldn’t help but remember Aymeric doing this for him on so many occasions. It was obvious he still did it for Kitali. Without stopping to think, he turned to grab the jar of conditioner and smoothed it through her hair as well.

“Did you leave enough for you?” she asked idly.

“I don’t use it.”

“And you wonder why your hair gets tangled so easily,” she said, almost nearing her usual self. Kitali twisted her hair into a simple rope and coiled it on her head. “We’re supposed to be luxuriating, remember?”

Sighing over-dramatically at her, he turned and scooped out the remnants of the jar and applied it to his own hair, mimicking her topknot. “I suppose.”

She was present enough to smile at that, at least, and she had picked up the bristle brush that was included in their bundle as well as the bar of soap. He watched as she worked up a thick stiff foam with it before scrubbing at the scales on her forearm.

“You should get one of these,” she said, shaking the brush in indication. “I’m sure there’s plenty of places in the bazaar selling them.”

He curled his hand self-consciously over his left shoulder.

“It’d look a bit odd, wouldn’t it? An elezen buying a brush meant for scales.”

“Or your more than willing auri friend could buy one for you,” she countered pointedly. “I doubt anyone would look at you twice anyways, coin is coin.”

He hummed in agreement as she contorted to wash her sides and back.

“Do you want some help with that?” he offered.

“If you don’t mind,” she said, handing him the brush and turning her back to him once more.

He accepted it from her and dragged the bristles across the center of her back in slow circles, like how she had been doing. The more he worked, the more he could see the tension bleed out from her as she slumped forwards, letting herself be moved with the motions.

“These scales look new, as well,” he commented, tracing a finger around the several small patches of dark blue-black scales along the edges of the more established patches.

“Probably are. I don’t think they ever really stop growing.”

Estinien dipped the brush in the water, shaking the bubbles from it, and smoothed the lather from her skin. The bubbles swirled past him on the surface of the water on the current. Kitali turned and held out her hand towards him expectantly.

“Your turn.”

“For what?”

She tilted her head at him. “You helped me, it’s only fair I help you.”

“You and your debts,” he sighed.

Still, he handed her back the brush and let her handle his arm. As the soap bubbles slowly turned a faint brown, he distinctly looked anywhere but her face. Her scrubbing circles became tighter, the soft scrape of the bristles against scale growing louder than the sound of the bath water.

“These must itch like hell.”

Estinien shrugged. “No more than the rest of me after being in armour all day.”

“Yeah, I’m getting you one of these brushes,” she muttered with finality. He didn’t argue.

He sat patiently as she moved to his shoulder, angling down so she could reach. Her fingers ghosted searchingly over where the infections were.

“These healed well,” she murmured, closer to him than he expected. “No scarring.”

“I’m sure Alphinaud’s healing took care of them.”

“More than likely.”

As she worked at the expanse of scales capping his left shoulder and down his back, he turned over the newly gleaming scales on his right arm. In the warm candlelight, they almost looked like gems. Almost pretty. Water ran down his back and over his chest as Kitali rinsed the suds away and sat back from him. She slid forward into the basin and submerged entirely, shaking out her hair in a wide cloud beneath the water. Behind him, Estinien heard the linkpearl chime.

“We should get back,” he said as she resurfaced. “Before they send out a search party.”

“They won’t,” she said. “Thancred knows better.”

“As if Thancred is the only one making decisions for all of them,” Estinien responded wryly.

Kitali grumbled under her breath as she stood to exit the bath, still wringing her hair out. He averted his eyes, staying in the basin as he heard her drying off and dressing again.

“Don’t forget your coat,” he reminded her.

“I won’t.”

The door slid open and shut as she left. The linkpearl chimed again from the gauntlet. Estinien closed his eyes, and listened to the sound of the water running.

“What are you doing, Varlineau?” he said softly to the empty room.

[ramyeonguksu]

Please enjoy this silly video I put together of my new brainrot Rifrastinien

[abimee]

if you tell me you love yuri and then just show me a bunch of art of the popular m/m ship genderbent im stealing smthn out of your house

[haunted-xander]

Best cure for nightmares is knowing your loved ones are safe

[fatedroses]

Adventurer Zenos and G'raha cause I had to draw my silly guys. I just enjoy the idea of Zenos hanging out with fellow bookworms and being begrudgingly (though occasionally willingly) helpful.

[hythlodaes]

but it happened easy, darling…

[wrymbloods]

[consumebread]