#the wol is following suit while acknowledging they're friends and equals

[thelongestway]

FFXIV Write 2024, Prompt #18: Hackneyed

It was the best thing in the world - to not be included in celebrations, to walk through Tuliyollal almost as anonymously as after my initial arrival. I ate, unbothered by anyone in the crowds, and then I slept in the open air of the cabin room's porch. The solitude was sheer bliss, and I was grateful to my travelling companions for letting me have it.

Once I had my fill, I unrolled the map and began to plan. And that was about the time when the others started checking in on me.

Erenville and Wuk Lamat had barely left when the twins rapped at my door.

"Mind if we join you?" Alisaie said, poking her head in. "Or are you still resting?

"Excellent timing," I answered. "Come in."

They did, brandishing bags of food, so I made tea, and we had a picnic out on the same porch where I slept.

"Full glad I am to see you recovered," Alphinaud noted once we'd caught up on the latest news and moved on to the local refreshments.

"Aye. Easy enough to do when you're not expected to take part in the formalities... Feels very good to leave that kind of work to someone who actually enjoys it, for a change!"

Alphinaud blushed slightly - he'd been a good deal busier over the last few days than either myself or his sister, who grinned cheekily and toasted his sacrifice with her fruity drink. Then Alisaie turned to me.

"I take it Wuk Lamat didn't try to get you involved again?"

I shook my head no. "She's a thankfully fast learner - it only took her the one attempt to realize it was a battle she couldn't win," unlike other people I might have named - blessedly none of whom were here.

"Forgive me if I make far too light of it, but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen," Alisaie chuckled, sprawling against the sun chair. "You just stared her down when she offered. Not a word! One beat, and she backs off!"

"I didn't expect that either. Got lucky, honestly - apparently standoffs like that are something of a local tradition. Erenville said later that we were only missing a Shaaloani tumbleweed blowing by for full measure."

"Out of curiosity, how were you planning to respond?" Alphinaud asked.

"I was trying to dredge up the driest and most formal rejection I could muster. 'Thank you for your very kind offer, Vow Wuk Lamat. Unfortunately, I am otherwise engaged for the foreseeable future'. Something of the like."

Alphinaud gave a low whistle. Alisaie perched her head on her hands and gave him a look of mock innocence.

"Translate for me, brother dear? I don't speak diplomatic nearly so well as you."

He returned an annoyed glare.

"Sister mine, for this? You are as capable of reading between the lines as I am. Don't make me say it."

"Oh please, brother dearest," her grin grew only broader. "All I want to know is how many 'Thal's balls' is 'Vow Wuk Lamat' worth in this context?"

"You just want to hear me curse my lungs out, admit it."

"I do!"

"To actually answer your question, linguistically it would be four, as traditional for the theology." At their surprised looks, I added: "Twinned gods and all. But also? We know from experience now that they have so many balls. And I would have meant all of them."

"All the balls!"

"All the balls indeed! But honestly, in this situation I wouldn't swear by the Traders - that would imply my position was negotiable. No, it'd be... Hm, my first thought would be Oschon, but..."

Alphinaud nodded and looked over his shoulder, as if expecting Deryk to appear from thin air.

"It would feel a bit strange swearing by his name, wouldn't it?"

"Mmm. And not Azeyma either, not after we found out she was actually an administrator... Wuk Lamat wouldn't know, but I would. No, I think I'd use something different. Swearing by one's patron deity, perhaps - that's always highly appropriate when refusing for personal reasons."

"Well?" Alisaie said, switching to me and grinning. "Spit it out. What would you have said if expressing your frustrations in a decidedly non-diplomatic way?'

I looked Alisaie straight in the eye and smiled politely.

"Lamaty'i, respectfully - I plan to choke on Thaliak's bitter cum till the day I die. And government reports do not for a good chaser make."

Alisaie spit out her drink, and it was Alphinaud's turn to give her an amused look.

"You did not have to provide a demonstration, sister mi-"

Bad move. Alisaie was always quicker than he was with her pillows.

"Oh shut it!" Then she turned to me. "What. In the Seven. Hells."

"Hey, play stupid games - win stupid prizes," I grinned at her, eyeing the pillow she was hefting at me. "And admittedly, trying to get me to stay put was pretty stupid."

"True," Alisaie released her grip and slowly turned away.

Just as she was about to stop giving me the stink eye, I struck again.

"Besides, Thaliak was rather good looking. I wouldn't actually mi-"

And of course, Alisaie was also faster with her pillows than I had ever been.