This was by far the first time Estinien shared intimacies with Vali, outstanding Black Mage and esteemed Warrior of Light, but it was the first time they shared a bed ever since the former Azure Dragoon had turned into.. this.
Having Nidhogg’s aether fuse with his own had Estinien turn into a draconic creature of his own: a tail with a spiky tip, claws, a pair of horns and scales that covered his body here and there. He was a monster and Estinien knew that and yet Vali had never mentioned that he shared the same opinion, though sometimes he caught the mage stare at him with an expression he couldn’t quite discern.
Finally having a moment to themselves the two of them had retreated to a room and there Estinien stood awkwardly in the middle of it, wearing nothing but a pair of black breeches, his tail flicking nervously behind him.
Vali stood before him, the mage’s gaze taking in all the things that were new about Estinien and he wasn’t quite sure if he could read the expression in his partner’s eyes correctly: was it curiosity? Was it disgust? What if…
Estinien had to stop thinking otherwise he would go insane, so instead he stood in front of the Black Mage like he expected he would stand before Halone once his time had finally come. Well, if the goddess would allow a creature like him into her halls.
Eventually the anticipation became almost unbearable and he moved a step forward, into the mage’s personal space, the expression in his eyes suggested he was almost begging for a reaction, and the one he received was not one he had expected.
Nimble fingers found his body and even though the dragoon was disgusted by himself, he did not pull away, he let Vali trace all the scales he could reach. The ones on his collarbones, his forearms, the one’s on his sides and those that trailed down his hips and disappeared beneath the waistband of his breeches. And then the Black Mage’s voice broke the silence:
i want to know how it feels.
Estinien’s eyes widened for a moment before the gaze in them turned into something soft despite the feisty request his companion had just made. Vali never ceased to amaze him. The dragoon stood vulnerable in front of him, with all his new imperfections, and the Black Mage so easily made him feel wanted.
The tips of his pointy ears turned slightly pink and Estinien quietly whispered his partner’s name as he pulled Vali closer, allowing the mage’s hand to slip into his pants; a little whimper rolled over his lips and turned into a low growl at the back of his throat when slender fingers explored the scales that now adorned the base of the dragoon’s cock.
He'd been, first and foremost, concerned about the lingering will of Nidhogg trying to wrest control over Estinien's body. The wyrm's presence had made the Elezen hostile towards most (if not all) bipedal races and as much as it felt ghastly to restrain his comrade, it needed to be done to parse out exactly what this persisting shade was.
Their aether now fused, the vengeful wrath had subsided to little more than draconic influence over natural behaviors, but there were other side effects. Curved horns, patches of protective scales and spikes, even a tail. This was the first time since their discovery that Vali was able to freely examine the changes, explore the difference in textures of the plated scales, carefully trail his palms over the notches and ribs of the horns stemming from his partner's crown. He even pressed his thumb against the spiked tip, leaving a faint red indentation against his dusky skin where the growth had punctured flesh.
His own visage was flushing deeply as he explained his intentions, deft fingers unlacing the stays to Estinien's trousers before sliding the heel of his hand against the muscular plane of his lower abdomen. Splaying his open palm against the length of his partner's cock, he pressed his skin against the thicker examples of scales, sighing out a shuddering exhale as the Dragoon trembled and arched his hips into the weight of his questing fingers.
"Not as uncomfortable as I suspected they might be, definitely more... flexible?" he noted with a breathy chuckle, shifting the angle of his wrist to curl his fingers around the other's girth. His thumb slowly circled the now spade-shaped head, exploring the ridges running along the frenulum as he kissed a trail along the steep angle of the Elezen's jawline.
"How does it feel...? Your reactions indicate a high level of sensitivity, despite the difference in thickness and texture-" he asked, scraping his incisors along the pulse point at the side of Estinien's elegant neck. He couldn't keep his mind from wandering, all sorts of decidedly odd impulses competing for attention as he slid down to his knees, continuing to press his parted lips against his partner's sternum and navel.
Peeling the other male's clothing from his waistline, he pulled he rest off, allowing Estinien to step free of his vestments before leaning forward to trail his tongue against the shaft. He teased his partner slowly, flicking the tip of his tongue against the shallow gaps between the scales, rubbing the flat broad swath of it along the base, then gently massaging and stroking against his heated flesh.
"Your scent is much stronger here, sharper..." the mage groans as he bites against the curve of a flank pad at the Elezen's hip, feeling his own erection harden beneath his robes the longer he drinks in every little reaction and vocalization Estinien tries to hold back.
❝ you occupy my thoughts. day and night, even in dreams you're there. i want you to never stop haunting me. ❞
❝ i am eternally yours. until the stars go out. and maybe, even after that. ❞
❝ my heart bleeds the color of your soul. i would cut it out and put it in your palms if i could. ❞
❝ it's like you have knit yourself around my ribs. i could no more cut you out than i could remove my own lungs. ❞
❝ you are woven into my soul and i dare not cut a single thread. ❞
❝ i am yours, body and soul, to do with as you wish. ❞
❝ i don't require you to love me back, or to care for me as i do you. only let me be here, let me devote myself to you. that would be enough. ❞
❝ i want to trap your smile in a bottle and take it out when no one else can see. ❞
❝ you belong to me and i to you. ❞
❝ do not look away from me. i cannot bear it when i do not occupy your vision. ❞
❝ i will follow you. to the ends of the earth, to the very gates of hades and whatever might lay beyond. ❞
❝ i will always be here. no matter how far you go you can always come home to me. ❞
❝ tell me all the places you have been hurt, every rejection, every scar. let me love you in all the places where you have burned. ❞
❝ i will not ever let you go. ❞
❝ you cannot escape this. you cannot run away from the love we share. ❞
❝ what we have is deeper than words could capture. ❞
❝ i will be anything you desire. i pluck out the parts of me you find distasteful and stuff your love in the craters left behind. ❞
❝ tell me what you wish of me and i will do it. ❞
❝ i could spend all day merely watching the air in your lung. i would count every blink. i would cherish every sigh from your lips. i could watch you merely exist for the rest of my life. ❞
❝ don't let go of me. i think if you lost me i would die. ❞
❝ i will cut out the tongues of every man who has wronged you. ❞
❝ i wish i could crawl inside you and make a home out of the hollows of your bones. ❞
ACTIONS:
WATCH: for sender to watch receiver sleep.
WATCHED: for sender to wake up and find receiver watching over them.
DISCOVER: for sender to find a journal full of sketches receiver made of them and sender finds them looking at it.
DISCOVERED: for receiver to find a journal full of sketches receiver made of them.
FOLLOW: for sender to stalk receiver, claiming they're doing it to protect them.
FOLLOWED: for receiver to stalk sender and claim they're protecting them.
GOING: for sender to take receiver to a secluded cabin for a romantic getaway.
GONE: for receiver to take sender to a secluded cabin for a romantic getaway.
SACRIFICE: for sender to kill someone who wronged receiver as a grand gesture.
SACRIFICED: for receiver to kill someone who wrong sender as a grand gesture.
CAUGHT: for sender to catch receiver staring at them.
CATCHING: for receiver to catch sender staring at them.
REVEAL: for sender to slowly undress themselves while receiver watches, but doesn't touch.
REVEALED: for receiver to slowly undress themselves while sender watches, but doesn't touch.
BATHE: for sender to bathe receiver, meticulously and tenderly as if serving them.
BATHED: for receiver to bathe sender, meticulously and tenderly as if serving them.
*trying to flirt* haha i bet ur guts look soooo pretty i bet u have the greatest bones ever. ur beating heart would be so sexy to hold in my hands i would be so gentle with it. why are you running
my toxic trait is being fervently convinced that if i ever came across a dragon irl we would make eye contact and understand each other at a primal level of transcendental trust instead of charring me into a crispy onion
Still gotta make fanart of my imperial spy/conscript OC, but I need to figure out some better title to include in his conscripted name than pyr.
I was thinking nomas based off what they called agents of the frumentarii? Seeing as he is a unlisted scout/torturer/assassin (they usually work in pairs or solo, similar to the later speculatores).
Splitting up from time to time was inevitable, what with the Warrior of Light having the weight of the whole world on his shoulders, while Estinien did his best to support the man, travelling all over Eorzea to fulfill quests for the Scions. The half-dragon had not liked it when they parted ways once more, but Vali had been firm in his wish to go to Rhalgr’s Reach to support the Ala Mhigan Resistance while Estinien was supposed to track down the eyes of Nidhogg. Even though the Warrior of Light and the former Azure Dragoon were partners now, they knew they could not act ignorant and stay inseparable. But little did Estinien know what a grave mistake he had made when he finally made his way to Rhalgr’s Reach to reunite with Vali.
Worry and even fear settled down heavily in his chest when he made his way through the damaged Camp. The heavy stench of death was in the air, paired with the scent of smoke of a camp almost being burned to the ground. How could this be? Vali was here to support them, he never would have let this happen. Unless.. Vali. Where was he? His steps quickened as he made his way through the unfamiliar territory, drawing the gazes of everyone that was not familiar with the Warrior of Light’s companion, but it seemed the injured and hopeless people could barely care for this strange character walking around.
“I am looking for the Warrior of Light. Where is he?!”, Estinien asked the person closest to him, his voice a deep growling sound. When the person pointed at a building he did not say another word and simply walked away, making his way towards the infirmary. This was not good. What had happened here? When he entered Vali’s room his head was spinning for a moment, the scent of blood overwhelming in this little confined space and Estinien paused for a moment when he saw Vali sitting in a bed, the usually white sheets stained with dried blood.
“Vali..”, the half-dragon whispers before stepping forward, making his arrival known by catching the wrist of the mage’s right hand with his own. Their eyes met and Estinien felt the familiar sting of guilt in his chest as he took in the state of his partner; he was in miserable shape and all Estinien could think was: I should have been here to prevent this.
“What happened to you? Who did this to you?”
Dull umber eyes flash open with a surfeit of frustrated anger, Vali baring his teeth at the intruder he assumed was yet another healer trying to quell his stubborn insistence to struggle alone. No small part of him knew he was acting childish and making what was already a strenuous aftermath even harder to bear with his tantrum, but he couldn't hold it back. He was livid, his heart ready to burst at the seams keeping him closed up.
It had been on Arrzaneth's orders that they survey the activity at Castellum Velodyna, he and Marshal Tarupin had joined forced to deliver a decisive blow against the empire by laying claim to that pivotal supply point. And in doing so, they had walked straight into a trap- Desperate to celebrate a victory after, what- Enlisting a handful of eager, but untrained youths, sons and daughters of miners and quarriers. Vali had promised he wouldn't be signing them off to Thal's realm, to take what little hope of the future their forebears still had left.
Now that promise was broken, yet another lie spun to keep their war raging against an enemy that proved too large and vast to leave even the smallest of dents in their seamless armor.
His gaze is bare with shame and turmoil once he recognizes whose steely, yet caring grasp stills him from further harm he doesn't care enough about to mind inflicting upon his already weak and recuperating form.
Who did this to you?
Vali's features contort and harden, his line of sight breaking from Estinien's searching and concerned expression. His jaw tenses, molars grinding audibly as his remaining and unsullied fingers ball into a fist once more. A single name falls from his lips, his normally baritone voice low but thready and dripping with contempt.
"Zenos, he-" the mage begins, inhaling a sharp breath as the tension to his muscles going into rictus causes a newly spiking flare up of pain.
He didn't want the Elezen to see him like this- Out of control, overly emotional, weak... A piss-poor leader, the once indefatigable champion now defeated and crippled, of little use to begin with even before he was mangled.
"So many dead, more than half of the survivors hanging on by little more than a prayer, or stubborn willpower. Y'shtola, too-" he admits, finally feeling the weight of his own guilt, the lack of adrenaline's drained him of the manic elation he'd once come alive with during his duel with the Viceroy. All that was left was what he had willingly chosen to ignore: his mistakes made in over-zealous drive, the loss of new and even old comrades, his selfish endangerment of people he called friends.
"I wanted a notch under our belt so badly and look at what it's lead to- It's all gone."
ASSORTED ASKBOX PROMPTS from various sources with dark and / or unsettling themes. The ominous feeling from before is still there, and its prominence has only grown …
* TRIGGERING THEMES MAY BE PRESENT, such as death, wealth inequality, and war. Please exercise caution and curate your space accordingly.
CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed
SPECIFY muse for multimuses
❛ When I look at a person, I see a person — not a rank, not a class, not a title. ❜
❛ What a strange girl you are. ❜
❛ History is written by the rich, and so the poor get blamed for everything. ❜
❛ I could corrupt you. It would be easy. ❜
❛ How many centuries deep is your wound? ❜
❛ You’ll be remembered more for what you destroy than what you create. ❜
❛ Bitter are the wars between brothers. ❜
❛ Power comes with a price. ❜
❛ Your power might destroy you if you don’t learn to control it. ❜
❛ I’m not going to let you anywhere near a battlefield! ❜
❛ War is sweet to those who have never fought. ❜
❛ Cowardice is everywhere in this country. ❜
❛ Which appeals to you more? Power, or love? ❜
❛ Inside my head, the war is everywhere. ❜
❛ You look like your grief and guilt and rage are eating you alive, bit by bit. ❜
❛ Good and evil are a question of perspective. ❜
❛ The only difference between martyrdom and suicide is the press coverage. ❜
❛ Your place is at home; you will fight another day. ❜
❛ How many more children do we have to sacrifice in this war? ❜
❛ When you talk to the dead, the dead will talk back. They’re always there, even if you can’t hear them. ❜
❛ I am half child, half ancient. ❜
❛ You’re like me. You’ve seen too much, too young. ❜
❛ Every word from your mouth, every turn of phrase, will be judged — and possibly used against you. ❜
❛ I prefer the most unfair peace over the most righteous war. ❜
❛ A love like ours could burn down a city. ❜
❛ In my experience, men only call women ‘mad’ when they are doing something inconvenient. ❜
❛ I will do anything to keep you safe from harm. ❜
❛ You wield an incredible amount of power with just your voice. ❜
❛ You know, everything old can be made new again. Like democracy. ❜
❛ You laugh like a little girl, and think like a martyr. ❜
❛ What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from? ❜
❛ Do you understand what it means when you have nowhere else to turn? ❜
❛ The war is never over. ❜
❛ We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. ❜
❛ I dream of the past as if it were yet to come. ❜
❛ You have endured terrible suffering, haven’t you? ❜
❛ Your beauty terrifies me. ❜
❛ This is war — you never know who’s listening. ❜
❛ This is a land of dreams and madness, where childrens’ stories come to life. ❜
❛ The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed they were eternal. ❜
❛ I’ll never get used to being alive. ❜
❛ We’ve been fighting this battle for too long. ❜
❛ We swore we’d never bow to tyranny. ❜
❛ Young men fall, I see their agony. ❜
❛ We all carry things inside us that no one else can see. ❜
❛ Your suffering can’t end until you stop identifying with it. ❜
❛ You have to be a bit of a liar to tell the story the right way. ❜
❛ I’m so afraid of losing something I love that I refuse to love anything. ❜
❛ You collect scars because you want proof that you’re paying for whatever sins you’ve committed. ❜
❛ You can escape reality, but you can’t escape the consequences of escaping reality. ❜
❛ Is that all you want to be? Liked? Wouldn’t you rather be passionately and voraciously desired? ❜
❛ Sorrow found me when I was young. ❜
❛ The very heavens conspire against me! ❜
❛ Do you like the person that you’ve become under the weight of living? ❜
❛ The evil that men do lives on long after they themselves have gone. ❜
❛ You are not safe here. ❜
❛ I don’t know any places I can hide from the voices that are tearing me apart from the inside. ❜
❛ I am not a legend; I’m a fraud. ❜
❛ Destiny is a worrying concept. I don’t want to be fated; I want to choose. ❜
❛ I am not merciful, and I am not kind. ❜
❛ Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter. ❜
❛ Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me. ❜
❛ You cannot save people. You can only love them. ❜