#other's oc: Clement & Kovalt

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Elftober2024 Day 26: Comfort

"There is a certain comfort in knowing you are not alone and those you love understand you." -ft. @wineandsalt's Clement & @kovadocia's Kovalt.

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Elftober 2023 Day 31: Spooky ft @wineandsalt's Clement as Alucard @kovadocia's Kovalt as Trevor and Viviane as Sypha! "No, no please don't do this! Remember who you are!! You swore to protect him!"

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Day 7- Morsel FFXIV Write 2024

Morsel: small piece or amount of food; a mouthful

Vi had gotten up early that morning to make pastries for breakfast. She loved to do this when they were all home and had time to spend together. She had even snuck out of bed, thrown on one of Clement's older shirts that hung just past her knees, and made it downstairs without being caught (or so she thought for now). 

At first, she thought she would make rolanberry scones, she had just brought home half a basket the night before but this morning when she stuck her head into the cold storage she found the basket nearly empty, her lips even pressed together in a thin line so she didn't burst out laughing because of how little was left. Whoever attacked them had even taken the time to spread out what was left on the bottom or the basket, while drinking straight from the bottle of Malbec that had been mostly full when she put it in there two nights ago before bed. Other things had been picked at as well and by the time she closed the door on the device her eyes were twinkling and her shoulders shaking as the feeling of mirth took her over. 

Sadly, without the Rolanberries, Scones did not sound nearly as good. There were other types she could make of course but they just weren’t what she wanted this particular morning. This thought process eventually led to her gathering the ingredients for Croissants, stopping only to look towards the stairs when the floorboard above her made a loud *CREAK* sound. Surely someone else was up with a noise like that unless they did have Ghosts in the rafters, which being in the Shroud this long Vi had come to realize that anything could happen at any given moment. 

Putting aside the noise for now she began to make the dough measuring out butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and milk, each ingredient going into her mixing bowl to be carefully combined by constantly folding them together until they formed a ball. It was at this point that she transfered it into a glass bowl, and covered it over with a damp cheesecloth, taking it to the cold storage, where she exchanged the new dough for a bowl that had already been sitting there. A trick she had learned early on to keep herself from waiting nearly half a bell while the dough rose in the cold.

It didn’t take long for her to return to the counter where she quickly moved through the other steps of making the perfect Ishgardian Croissant, the hardest part was always shaping the dough, making certain that it was the perfect square, getting the triangular cuts correct so that the folding would go easily, and then the rolling. Her fingers had become so nimble from the process that the way she went through these steps would look like art to anyone who caught her working. Once she had placed them each on her baking sheet, she put them into the oven and then moved over to the other side of the kitchen to juice a few oranges. 

It was about this time that the stairs creaked, and with where she was it wasn’t easy to tell if someone was there or not, she tried leaning back to see if she could see past the large pillar but there just wasn’t enough room for her to see, but with the smell of fresh croissants slowly filling the house she knew better than to believe her morning peace would last much longer, but on she continued with getting the rest of breakfast ready, part way through removing the Croissants from the oven to let them cool on the rack while she scrambled some eggs and sauteed vegetables the were noises behind her.

“Good Morning beloved.” Clement’s voice was almost a sign song, and she knew that meant he was up to no good, in fact when she turned around to look at him he was lingering right near where the croissants were, dressed in his linen house pants and a loose shirt he had thrown on. This was the side of him she loved the most, the one where he was just himself. 

“Do not touch the croissants dear heart.” there was a tease in her voice, and she turned back around to finish grilling the meat that would go with breakfast. 

“Why, I would never touch them Viviane.” Clement smoothly deflected the accusation, by slipping across the room to run his arms around her waist and place a kiss on her neck “Is there anything I can do to help with this? You have been working so hard beloved.” This brought a giggle from her, and she peeked over her shoulder to catch the look in his eyes “You could set the table if you like. That would be helpful. Is Kovalt awake already as well?” leaning in then she went to place a kiss on his lips but at the last moment, this was deflected to his left cheek where her lips planted right into his well-maintained skin. While he was pretending to be innocent, that sudden turn of his head told Viviane all she needed to know. 

“He is! I left him in the dining room where he was setting the table.” Clement said with a bright smile, the type that filled his mismatched eyes with this mischievous glow. 

“Well, then I guess there is nothing left to do.” which is what she suspected the two gremlins had planned as soon as they smelled breakfast cooking “The rest is almost done, you could always take the juice out to the table.” she motioned to the tray a bit further down the counter where three glasses sat “I just need to make some tea and then I will be done. 

“Oh, will it be the Marsala Chai?” backing off then to let her move he returned to where the croissants were cooling instead of getting the juice. “How about I take these out to the table! I’m right here.” he offered, and for a moment she could have sworn she heard Kovalt snicker from the other room as if he had been listening to them the entire time or waiting for the handoff of a tray from Clement.

“Yes it is the Chai love and I need to finish them up. I am drizzling chocolate on some and then doing the others with cinnamon sugar.” Vi’s ear perked to listen for an answer and what she heard was a “Mmmm” sound coming from behind her. 

“I mean mmhmm! That”s right you haven’t finished yet.” Clement added quickly, clearing his throat right at the end. 

“Why don’t you go and join our husband at the table and I’ll bring everything out when I am done.” This was Vi’s way of shooing him from the kitchen, she even turned around with the large plate that had the eggs, meat, and vegetables on it to be taken out to the table and she set it down on the tray she had gotten down for it’s transport.” 

It was then that she noticed it, the crumbs right at the corner of Clement’s lips as he smiled at her, giving her that loving look he always did when she came close to him. 

“You did, didn’t you.” Viviane gave him a playfully sour look, her lip jutting out in a pout. “You touched the sacred croissants before I could even decorate them didn’t you.” her eyes cast downwards towards the platter where she finally found the evidence, three of the croissants with their perfect golden brown finish, were missing the caps on their ends. 

“It was just a small piece beloved, a morsel I swear! A mouthful! There is still plenty left and I didn’t ruin a single one. I sampled all three to make certain they were okay for everyone else to eat. It was only a nibble!” 

As Clement defended himself against the feisty redhead who swatted at him with a towel she had grabbed from the countertop, laughter erupted from the next room where Kovalt had indeed been watching the whole thing happen instead of setting the table.

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elftober2023 Day 4: Lounge- ft-@wineandsalt's Clement and @kovadocia's Kovalt

"When you have three people who live busy lives, it is moments like these where we can all just lounge together. That matters the most."

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Day 14: Telling FFXIV Write 2024

cw/tw: minor reference to abusive past of an oc

Telling: showing the truth about a situation or showing what someone really thinks.

“What is on your mind, Xixa?” 

It was a dreary morning in the Lavender Beds, the sky filled with large gray clouds that blotted out the sun. It was this type of day that left the Viera in a state of melancholy about the life she had decided to live. 

“Ah, nothing Lady Vi, I am fine.” The fact that Xixa didn't call her ‘girl’ was telling enough, but ending the sentence with ‘fine’ caused Viviane's eyebrow to lift straight upwards. 

“I do not know who you think you just said those words to but they are not going to float with me.” Before Xixa could react, the Elezen and her bowl of muffin batter were right in front of her, continuing to stir and mix what smelled like chocolate and rolanberry muffins while she waited for the actual explanation. 

“Ah, hells.” The words slipped out, and Xixa appeared mortified that they did. Finally, she let her shoulders slump in defeat and swallowed hard. “ Do you ever regret things you did with your life? In particular, never owning up to how you feel about someone?”

Vi narrowed her eyes for a moment, Xixa had been acting suspicious lately, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but she had her thoughts on what the problem was, still, she wasn't going to confront the Viera about that so she chose an easier route. 

“Well I regret marrying my ex-husband, my Mother liked him, that was the first warning sign.” Vi cringed at this thought visibly, then rolled her eyes at herself. “I thought he was charming. What he was, was a steaming pile of Chocobo dung. I was quite naive about relationships, I was learning to survive outside of the Cult and Mother thought selling my hand to the highest bidder would make me happy, she never even had the nerve to tell me they were close friends until after the wedding.” Setting the bowl down on the counter she slipped around the corner to grab her muffin tin and the little cups she used to line them. 

Xixa shook her head, she remembered well the ex that Vi spoke of and how poorly he treated her. She had arrived home in the Shroud on his arm one day with questionable bruises that Xixa had noticed right away with her medical background. It was the day she told her Aunt Doshaine she was getting married and that she was blissfully happy about it. What Xixa had seen was far from happy, not to mention, Vi had a history of twisting the truth in the way she thought others needed to hear it, so she did not worry them. Xixa knew now that Vi had never been happy until she met Clement and Kovalt, and while it still upset her that she had put herself in danger, she was pleased to hear the Elezen admit to such a thing; so candidly.

“I regret not telling someone how I felt about him when we were younger and I still feel the same I did then and now it's gone and got complicated because he is engaged to someone else, I have feelings for.” Xixa looked down to her hands, which had been busy forming little mounds of cookie dough on her tray to put in the oven along with the muffins and she had found it quite difficult to even express the thoughts in her mind. 

“Well I knew about my Brother. It has been written all over your face since before I married Clement and Kovalt. I did not know or even think to add Laurent to that list.” Vi could have been smug about this, she could have even picked on Xixa about it, but instead she chose to be supportive and encouraging. “I think you should tell them, you never know what the Spinner has in store for you and even if nothing comes of it, it is better than keeping it in.” Setting her cups into the muffin tin she turned to smile at the Viera. It was a complicated position, one Vi understood well. 

“Don't want to ruin the friendship, Lady Vi. I know Laurent broke it off with you when you wanted a relationship with him and Clement both.” Xixa frowned at that particular memory as it was one of the things that kept her from ever telling Laurent or Dimitri how she felt. 

“That is for a different reason Xixa. Laurent does not like Clement for a few reasons, namely that he caught both Kovalt and my eyes. That's not the same as your situation. I think you should talk about it with one of them. Clear your head, get it out there so they know. Go like this much longer and either you will grow resentful of their relationship or you will put yourself in a constant state of pining for their attention. At least give them the chance to decide.” 

Xixa stared at Vi for a long moment. There were times she hated that the Elezen made so much sense and times, like now, where she was glad the woman would listen to her ramble on about just about anything like she was now. “By the way, Vi? How did you know?” 

Vi chuckled then moved towards the oven when she pulled down the door and set both of her muffin tins on the heated rack inside. “Oh that's easy, it was written all over your face, like me your expressions are very telling. I caught it one day by the way you look at them.”