A Song in Your Honor

Well met, adventurer. What brings you here, if I may be so bold as to inquire?  (An independent RP blog for Thancred Waters from FFXIV; heavily headcanon-based. See about for more info.)

[roguishbard]

shroudedscholar‌:

Part of him is so, so grateful to hear Thancred’s attempt at jesting, even if his smile is vaguely terrified — as well it should be. But he is alive again, whole again, after so long away, so long mired in despair and denial. Here he is, back from the abyss, and here they both are. He is glad for Ryne, so glad, for what she’s done for his son. For bringing him back to them. But there is no room to dwell on that right now, he has scolding to do; he can be happy about this later after he’s done strangling his son for his own stupidity. 

He herds his son into a private room, and once he closes the door and they’re alone, he whirls on him, eyes ablaze and for the first time in years he drops the speech patterns which had once again become a habit thanks to his time with the pixies. “You,” he snarls, voice alive as his eyes spark with righteous, worried fury. “Are— you are— by the Twelve, buachaill dúr, what were you— you nearly died! You understand that, yes!? You nearly died, and for all your words about protecting her where would she be without you, where would we—” Breathe, he reminds himself, though is voice is still tight and trembling with anger and worry and everything he’d needed to say. “You almost died, and you almost died using something— you cut off your own aether, amadán! Do you— you must realize how foolish— your aether was already damaged! And we all are naught but aether here, you could have— ”

He grabs the collar of his coat and shakes him, spitting mad but at the same time still fond and worried. “Never,” he snarls at him. “Never, ever do that again, are we understood? I will pull you from the Lifestream to kill you myself should you try!” That said and needing a few minutes to catch his breath, he tips his head forward to rest it on his son’s shoulder. “…are we understood, sionnach?” He asks again, softer this time. “Do not scare me like that again.”

The moment they’re alone, Thancred lifts his hands in a show of surrender--- and, admittedly, an attempt to ward off blows that he knows are not truly coming). Not that Urianger requires blows to wound him, as his father turns on him and proceeds to drop both his speech patterns and any pretense of a professional relationship, reverting entirely to the very angry, very frightened father he has been for years. He’d been expecting this very thing, been somewhat wary of it, and yet it seems he wasn’t wary enough, for the level of fury being directed at him is greater than any he has ever known, even after one particularly idiotic stunt he had pulled during his time in Sharlayan, when he was still a youth hellsbound to push everyone away before they could cast him aside.

“I know,” he says, and though he tries to sound steady, in the face of Urianger’s anger he falters, something uncertain and younger than his years on his face. “I know I did, I know ‘twas a risk, and I know she needed and needs me still. But I could not--- Ran’jit was there, seeking to kill her or to capture her again, and she’d only just made the decision that she wanted to be strong for herself, to live for herself and try to save this world of her own volition, not because of her ties to Minfilia, and I could not...” He draws a breath, feeling his eyes grow misty, and he swallows. “...I couldn’t see that wasted, athair. You know I couldn’t.”

With that said, he lets his father shake him, and when Urianger tips forward to rest his head on his shoulder, Thancred wraps his arms around him in as tight a hug as he’s capable of giving. “...Aye,” he says softly, and here, in private, he loosens the iron grip he usually holds over his accent, and adds. “I’ll not do this t’ ye again, athair. I promise ye’ that.” He pauses for a long moment, letting the words sink in, letting his Urianger breathe--- and then pulling both good humor and his more cultured manner of speech back around himself, Thancred grins and adds, “If ever I should have to risk my life in such a manner again, I’ll be sure to give you enough warning in advance that you can off me yourself and save us all the trouble!”

[darkenedsteppemoon-blog]

i’m so sorry

i just really need help.  i need to get my dog food.  we ran out way before paycheck hit, and i kinda could use like 40-ish to buy a big bag so we have some leeway.

if you can help:

[email protected] is my paypal.

[roguishbard]

shroudedscholar‌:

@roguishbard

Cornering Thancred alone had proven to be, actually, quite simple. Then again, upon being informed he wanted to check on Thancred’s recovery from his stunt in Nabaath Areng before they left for their expedition, Ryne had happily agreed and slipped off elsewhere for a little while to allow it. Gods, she was a wonderful little girl. Urianger does hope that when it come time to return to the Source, the way they find to do so allows her to accompany them. He doesn’t know that his son could survive the loss of another daughter, even if Ryne will remain alive and well here on the First. But…just in case, in the event that she cannot come home with them, until then she will remain well loved and well taught, as much as they both can give her.

But for the moment, his thoughts are turned towards his son. When it had happened, he had been too consumed with terror and distress to do more than remain distraught and care for him, heal him as best he was able, and then after his plan with G’raha had taken up too much of his mind and weighed too heavy on his heart for him to focus on his wayward boy. But now it was all ended, things were beginning to be at peace, and he had plenty of time now and ability to give his son the scolding he well deserves. Well…he does intend to really look in on his recovery before their trip, given there may be combat and he does worry, but…still. Scolding.

“Thancred,” he calls as he approaches, his tone of voice one that he hasn’t worn in years now but one his son will know all too well. “May we speak a moment? ‘Twould be meet to see to thy health before we set out for our expedition.” Oh, that isn’t the only reason, but it’s good enough for an excuse, and he feels he should at least allow the man some semblance of dignity in public before he throttles him in private. 

Oh dear. Oh, dear. Thancred had been doing well to avoid giving Urianger any openings to track him down alone, or so he had thought --- he’d known his father was, to put it mildly, displeased over his recent brush with death, and so had done his best to keep Ryne close, and keep himself busy. He’d dared to hope that it had worked, especially in the wake of their grand last stand against the Ascian, but the moment he realizes his daughter has wandered off somewhere and that Urianger is approaching--- No, not just approaching, approaching and calling out to him in that voice, with a perfectly reasonable excuse to be speaking to him... Thancred doesn’t think anyone heard his nervous swallow all the way in the Greatwood, but he imagines for a moment that they might have.

Still, he steels his soul and pulls a smile onto his face, forcing nonchalance into his posture and voice alike. “Urianger! I thought you were busy preparing lecture materials with which to occupy our friends on the way out,” he says, absolutely not looking around the area for potential escape routes, and certainly not considering using that highly-dangerous evasion skill just to get away from his ready-to-scold father. Is there any escape? None that will allow him his dignity, he’s sure, and there are witnesses. Damn. “Oh, very well,” he concedes, and tries not to look too much like a man about to march toward his doom --- even if that’s exactly what he is. “I suppose it would only be wise, especially given the dangers that are likely to await us.” Dangers and, unfortunately likely, no small amount of boredom, as well.

Oh, gods. He should have considered what Urianger being restored to a living, breathing person instead of a somewhat-loquacious piece of furniture would mean. There’s simply no way he could ever be prepared for this. “...Give my regards to Ryne once you’ve finished with the burial?” Thancred half-asks, half-complains. Oh gods, he’s not going to come out of this alive. He can feel it.

[roguishbard]

historicrystalis‌:

Thancred’s casual mocking of Urianger gets a startled laugh out of him, amused and entertained— he’s not heard that in years, decades, centuries…and even when he was reunited these past years Thancred was too drawn into himself to tease their adopted father. But here it is like it had never gone away, and it makes G’raha smile. “…I fear I’ve become a little too much like Urianger these past years,” he admits, smile shy but genuine and something like good humor creeping back into his voice. “But even so, I do hope I never end up going on like he does! That’s a habit I’d rather imagine I never did pick up.” He knows he’s ended up quite a bit like his adoptive father, but…oh, he remembers those lectures. He remembers dozing off during them, half the time. Thancred had, too. It’s…a fond memory, a happy one, and it warms him a little even through the regret and guilt.

He stiffens a little when Thancred puts his hand on his shoulder— it’s the crystalline one, so he can’t feel the warmth of it, but he feels its weight and he bites his lip again as he listens. “….I am…selfishly, I am glad I brought you here, too,” he murmurs. “All of you, and not just the Warriors of Light. You were— just as important as they, and I…” He looks away, staring intently at a fixture on the wall so his eyes don’t well up and betray him. “…I am glad I got to see you all again. I never thought I would.” He thought, even without truly remembering them, that he would have lived and died after his awakening without ever seeing family again. But here they are, here they have been, at his side this past half decade even when he didn’t realize it. And he is so, so glad for it.

He blinks, processing the fond threat, remembering so many pranks from their childhood, battles of them— the frog in his bed, he thinks distantly, and something about that is so silly, so mundane, so familiar that it finally snaps what’s been tight and knotted up in his chest, and with a noise that’s half a sob and half an intrinsically Miqo’te sound of distress he throws himself at Thancred and buries his face in his chest, dignity and age tossed aside for the moment. Right now he is just G’raha Tia, who has slept for a very long time and carried far too much for almost as long, and who has missed his family so, so very much. He has borne such a burden— right now, he just wants his brother.

“I was going to be polite and refrain from pointing that out,” Thancred says, voice shifting into a teasing lilt as he watches G’raha smile, the Miqo’te visibly starting to relax just a little. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m inclined to agree. Between the robes and the cowl and the mysterious sage, I’m afraid you’ve gotten entirely too much like him. I shall be watching you very closely now that I’m aware of the danger, you know --- should you begin to show inclinations toward bells-long lectures I will kidnap you and toss you into the lake, whatever Lyna and the others might have to say about it.” He won’t, actually, not in the least because all of that crystal would make doing so somewhat dangerous at best, but he needs to make the threat nonetheless. It’s a matter of course, at this point.

The teasing demeanor softens, however, then falls away entirely as he nods, smiling a little sadly at the man who is his little brother in all but blood. “I’m glad I was able to see you again, too,” he says, voice far quieter than before. “I hadn’t thought I would, you know--- I’d no idea you were even in Eorzea, and then the Tower...” He trails off and shrugs, barely managing to brace himself as G’raha throws himself at him, no longer a wise and sagely leader of men, but a distressed boy all over again. It’s the most natural thing in the world to bring his arms up into a hug, tucking the smaller man securely under his chin and humming to him. “There, there, G’raha,” he murmurs softly, using his brother’s name properly since they are, in fact, in private. “It’s alright now. We’re here, and you’re still here, and we’re all together again. It’s alright. You’ve done very well--- better than any of the rest of us could have managed--- and now you can take some much-needed time to rest.” To rest, but not to die or to fade away. At least not yet. No-one wants to part with him any time soon.

[trcshymemes]

NieR: Automata Sentence Starters:

aka pure suffering.

❝ Feelings are prohibited. ❞ 

❝ Gifts are such a useless ritual. ❞

❝ Sorry. Guess I spaced out there for a bit. ❞

❝ Your bandage is coming undone. Here, let me change it. ❞

❝ We have to go before we lose the light.❞    

❝ I just…wanted a family. ❞

❝ Please…kill…me… ❞

❝ No don’t…Don’t do this!❞

❝ Souls and Heaven. Do those things really exist? ❞

❝ Eternity…It hurts…It really hurts… ❞

❝ This pain! This sadness! This desperation! You know nothing about it! ❞    

❝ It’s okay because…I’m going to kill you. I-I’m going to end your suffering now. ❞

❝ I was running…from the memories of losing those close to me…It was so hard…so painful. ❞

❝ I have to atone for my sins…no matter what. ❞

❝ Perhaps we’re not so different after all. ❞

❝ Hey can I kill ‘em yet? ❞

❝ I…I believed you! ❞

❝ You know nothing about humanity! ❞      

❝ I’m glad I got to see you here. I truly am. ❞

❝ I’ll tear you apart… Every last one of you!  ❞

❝ (name)…the time I was able to spend with you…It was like memories of pure light. ❞

❝ Why do I desire the touch of something that no longer exists? ❞

❝ Aw, are you worried about me? ❞

❝ I’m merely pointing out that you would be a liability on the battlefield. ❞

❝ Wait, please! I have no intention of harming you. ❞

❝ I suppose such intense curiosity can be admirable…in its own way. ❞

❝ Don’t you dare apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. ❞

❝ It’s all going wrong. You can feel it too, right? ❞

❝ I’m glad you were with me. ❞

❝ We’re able to endure because we have each other. ❞

❝ Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. ❞

❝ To think we have the same face, but such different smiles. ❞

❝ Why must we suffer this persecution? ❞

❝ I’m all right as long as you’re with me. ❞

❝ It always ends like this…❞

❝ Why are they coming after us? Why?! ❞

❝ If I knew this could I happen, I never would have… ❞

❝ I cannot live with this heartbreak inside me… ❞

❝ I need you…I need you to delete my memories. And if not, then I need you to kill me.❞

❝ I’m…I’m so scared…❞

❝ I can’t stop…Have to keep fighting… ❞

❝ Don’t break too quickly now. ❞

❝ I didn’t ask for help. ❞

❝ You’re pretty useless, you know that?❞ 

❝ I don’t care if this is a trap. I just have to kill them all. ❞

❝ You’re an obstinate one, aren’t you? ❞

❝ Do you truly think you can win? ❞

❝ All things end with accepting death, do they not? ❞    

❝ Don’t feel bad about it. We are alive, after all. And being alive is pretty much a constant stream of embarrassment. ❞

❝ Sacrificial lambs. All of us. ❞

❝ Isn’t that HILARIOUS? Doesn’t it just make you LAUGH? ❞

❝ We have no capacity for emotion. But when we were connected and exchanged information, something…happened. I cannot deny the feeling of something resembling consciousness and emotion being born. ❞

❝ The more human records I uncover, the more charmed I am by their complexity. ❞

❝ The core of humanity…is conflict. They fight. Steal. Kill. This is humanity in its purest form. ❞

❝ A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself. ❞

❝ Why is life…so painful…? ❞

❝ I don’t need this world. ❞

❝ Our cursed cycle of destruction and rebirth continues without end. ❞

❝ Everything that lives is designed to end. ❞

❝ We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. However…life is about the struggle within the cycle. ❞

❝ I never quite realized…how beautiful this world is. ❞                    

[roguishbard]

historicrystalis‌:

So lost in his own thoughts is he that he doesn’t even notice someone entering the room— until Thancred speaks, that is, and he jolts upright fast enough that he bounces his head off one of his interminable stacks of books, and he yelps and winces, looking rather put upon as the stack tumbles. Even so, it at least didn’t fall on him, so he sighs and shifts to look up at— at his brother, in all but blood, and manages a shy sort of awkward smile. He radiates an embarrassed sort of sheepishness, something anxious and uncertain that comes upon him sometimes— it’s new, he thinks, but he’s so used to its occasional presence that it feels like he’s always been like this— and he curls into a better sitting position, shifting so he isn’t sitting on the tail that’s tucked beneath his robes. He supposes if he means to go about unhooded more often, he’ll need to adjust them to let the poor thing breathe, but…maybe. One step at a time.

“…I wouldn’t mind company,” he admits, twisting his hands together for lack of anything else to do with them. “If you’re…free to stay a while?” He doesn’t want to impose, if there’s other things he needs do; he knows he’s quite busy with Ryne all the time, and in and out on whatever adventure they’re up to in Amh Araeng and the Empty, so if he’s only here a little while, he’s certain there are better things to do than just sit with him…and anyway, he recalls how angry Thancred had been at the first, when he had been first Called accidentally. Oh, how they had all been angry, of course — he still smarts from Y’shtola’s tongue lashing and Alisaie’s impassioned shouting — but…Thancred, poor Thancred, with the news of Minfilia and two years alone…oh, he can’t hold it against him. How could he? He had never met the original Minfilia, but he had heard about her from letters, and now he remembers those letters. He looks away at the thoughts that catch up to him, and he bites his lip awkwardly. A sad day it is that he doesn’t know what to say to the man who’s all but his blood brother, who’s family and has been since he was a scruffy boy of thirteen summers charging headfirst into the city of learning, eyes wide and curiosity insatiable. 

Ah, he really is overthinking things, isn’t he? A soft, self-deprecating laugh escapes him and he shifts to give Thancred room to sit beside him if he chooses to stay. He quiets again, and absently moves to start stacking the books that had fallen, placing them one atop the other haphazardly, and stopping when his hand catches hold of a battered old copy of Count Fortemps’ memoirs, drawing into his lap and letting a crystalline finger trace the embossed cover. “…there are more comfortable places to have a minor crisis, I’m sure,” he admits, voice light even if it trembles slightly. “But…none quite so private. And I’m used to this room, anyway. It’s…comforting.” Red eyes slide over to look at Thancred, still uncertain. “…I am sorry,” he says, for the thousandth time, but this time he’s able to say it and feel the full weight of it, the context and the memories of how he’s accidentally wounded all of his family without realizing.

G’raha smiles at him, something shy and shaky in the expression, and Thancred finds himself smiling back at him. “I wouldn’t be offering if I didn’t have the time,” he says, stepping further into the room and dropping to sit next to the Exarch, picking up a book and placing it back onto the stack in an effort to help ease the mess, if just by a little bit. “Urianger has Ryne with him, imparting the ‘wisdom of the ages into a willing mind’ he says, accompanying the phrase with deliberate and overly dramatic finger quotes. “Personally I think he’s just regaling her with embarrassing stories about all of us, but I’d rather not listen in on the off-chance it truly is one of his lectures. So, in lieu of that slow torture, I thought I’d check in with you.” They hadn’t spoken much after... everything, and he knows they need to. They are family, for all that’s transpired between them.

He watches him trace the book --- a tome with a dragon on the cover, a title unfamiliar to him on it (unfamiliar, and yet he has a suspicion of what rests within those pages, knowing what he does about his brother’s past in that alternate future he’d woken into) --- then sighs. “I suppose there are, but ‘tis a poor idea to keep to yourself when you’re having a crisis. I would have thought that our most recent experiences would have proven the danger in trying to stand alone.” Slowly, cautiously even, he reaches out and puts a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder, sympathy in his eyes as he shakes his head. “I’ve made my peace with being Called here, you know. And if I hadn’t been, then this world would be the poorer for it, if it even existed. Gods know poor Ryne would have never had the chance to see the outside of her cell in Eulmore, let alone find herself the way she has. There’s nothing to forgive in that.”

He pauses, looking out across the room for a long moment, then adds in a softer voice, “As for the deception, for the plan that you and Urianger worked out, for... frightening us all as you did? Well, that I haven’t quite forgiven you for --- but I’ve pulled similarly foolish things far too recently to judge you for it. So instead, I shall give you fair warning: I shall take my revenge, and you will find it most discomfiting and embarrassing, and then we’ll have done with it. Sound fair?” Perhaps embarrass him to Lyna--- no, no that would be too cruel. That woman holds her adoptive grandfather in far too high esteem to involve her in any pranks meant to bring out the bits of the playful, ridiculous boy that still reside within the noble Crystal Exarch. 

[roguishbard]

Thancred’s Pokemon team

Tagged by: @alandeathweaver

Tagging: @lighttheabyss

[roguishbard]

historicrystalis‌:

@roguishbard

With the Light banished from the skies and the Lightwardens finally, soundly defeated, it was far easier to tell the passage of time. One needed only to look up at the sky — sunrise and sunset, the pale light of morning and the dim glow of dusk, the night sky and even the gentle blues of daytime, they were all now returned to the First. And it was a miracle, truly. One the Crystal Exarch had always believed would come to pass — he had faith in the Warriors of Light, in his guiding stars, trusted them to prevent the terrible history he had set forth from. But even so, it was still hard to believe it was over, it had been over for days now. Maybe because he was still here, when he had never intended to be? It was a strange, strange thing, to be alive when you had never planned on living to this point, to see the end of this chapter. Only a bit part in their story, here and gone. But…then he had remembered, and now he’s— almost glad, grateful, that he’s here now.

They had always remembered him, always known him as far more than a bit part of their tale, known him as a dear lost friend. He had quite forgotten that fact, forgotten so much over his long vigil, the years and his bond to the tower eating at his memories. He doesn’t think it was an active thing the tower did, doesn’t think it will happen again — simply the amount of power he’s bonded to is a lot to deal with, and…for so long, it was— well. An inevitable side effect. But he remembered now, their presence restoring what was lost (some of what was lost, he’s not sure if there are still things he’s missing, small things), and…G’raha Tia was home again. G’raha Tia…the name they’d spoken almost as soon as they’d arrived, unfamiliar then and even now it still rang oddly. But it was his name. Proof he was more than just this background figure, more than the Exarch. That he had lived a life before his long sleep. That he…he was someone. G’raha Tia, Archon, Scholar of Baldesion, founding member of NOAH…he had friends. And he had family.

That last bit was…kind of the sticking point for him right now. Family. How he had forgotten, he’s not sure. That the Scions he’d Called, the Archons— were more than just the brave souls that stood against the Darkness, were more than just the starring heroes in the tales that sent him to this time and space. They were his family. Adoptive, yes, but he had grown up with them. With Thancred, Y’shtola, Urianger. (Lyse and Papalymo, too, but he read those stories, knew where they ended and why they weren’t here, and though he mourned the mage, he didn’t hold it against her. Her destiny led elsewhere, that was all.) But that he had forgotten— he had stood there and asked his own adoptive father to aid in an openly suicidal plan to save the Warriors…gods, no apology could ever be enough. The turmoil and chaos that set about as soon as they’d returned, the celebration that lasted a good long while, and his injuries had all conspired to prevent him from properly dealing with his restored memories, but now he’s nothing to do but deal with them — his duties are much reduced now that there’s nothing so pressing as the impending apocalypse to worry about and the sin eaters are gone — and as such he’s found himself lying on his back in the Umbilicus, staring at the ceiling and valiantly attempting to process it all. Which, so far, isn’t going well. Gods, what a fool he is!

Thancred has been particularly busy, of late--- after all, looking after and teaching Ryne is a full-time job, to say nothing of helping her carry out what she’s set as her goal. So it’s something of a surprise that he has any time to himself at all, but here he is, enjoying exactly that while Ryne listens to another one of Urianger’s particularly dull lectures. How that girl has the patience to sit through the man’s monologuing, he’ll never understand. But he’ll not deny her the lessons--- not when they cannot linger once their route home has been secured. If that’s how she chooses to spend her time, for now, then that’s her decision. (Even if it is a frightfully boring one.) In the meantime, he’s decided to drop in on someone else: the Crystal Exarch, the long-lost and far older G’raha Tia.

And all things considered, it’s not hard to find him. Were he out and about minding the Crystarium, its inhabitants would easily have pointed him out (and possibly made a fuss, they worry for him so). Therefore, he’s not out and about, which means he’s taking time to himself, too. Fortunately he’s waved into the tower without incident, and given the permissions granted to close friends and family now that the worst of the danger has passed, to enter the most private rooms of the tower, as well. It’s there that he sees the Exarch---sees G’raha--- lying on his back, a sort of stunned and tired shock on his features that is all too familiar to Thancred, having gone through something nearly as overwhelming only a few years ago.

“There are more comfortable places for contemplation, you know,” he calls out, tone gentle. Gods know he was a right arse to this man those first two years he was here, not that he thinks G’raha has mentioned it to the others. Between the unexpected Call and finding out what had happened to Minfilia, Thancred had been... particularly unkind to the man who had turned out to be a member of his own family. That he’s fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make up for it at all is a gift he has no intention of wasting--- for who knows how long they’ll still have this chance? Who knows how long the Exarch will continue to exist? There are no certainties in this world, and in this least of all. “Would you like some company whilst you overthink yourself, or would you prefer to be alone?”

[roguishbard]

darkenedsteppemoon‌:

A loud snort from the Monk was his only retort, fingers shifting against her cup again as she moved to rest on the wall.  Again, a moment’s expression of irritated pain, a thoughtful expression quick to replace it, “You say that often.” And yet so often he put her in a poorer place for it, “She’s safe now….well, safer…but if you do it again, bring you back, kill you again, and let the Ascian bring you back the third time.  And trust me when I tell you that Nuisance will have QUITE a few new trinkets to put in your shoes.”

“Run,” Thancred said, meeting the monk’s eyes with a steady gaze. “I... know I have been less than an ideal guardian, and you’re more than welcome to point out all of my failings at any time. But I give you my word now: I will do better by Ryne than I have been, and I’ll not give her reason to fear for me. She deserves the world, and if we’re to save this one that she may have it... I suppose I will have to stay alive to see that it comes to pass.” He paused, a smile creeping over his face as he shrugged. “Not to mention I’ve little desire to owe that Ascian any more thanks, let alone to find out what sort of horrors would find their way into my boots through your expert bribery.”

[roguishbard]

Don't look now, Thancred--- or do, because there is a small Dwarven Ironfrog sitting in the middle of your room, wheeling around in aimless lazy circles. Hm, who could POSSIBLY have left it there? [from @you know who]

@historicrystalis

When he first sees the little frog automaton wheeling about in his room, Thancred simply stops for a moment to stare. Those are all over the mountains in Kholusia, to be sure, but to find one here, in the Crystarium---in his own bloody private room--- is something he cannot immediately process. And then, out of nowhere, it clicks, and he bursts out laughing, moving over to the creation and putting a hand atop it to stop its motion. “Well, well, Exarch,” he murmurs to himself, and shakes his head fondly. “G’raha. I suppose we’re both ourselves again at long last. But I do hope you realize this means war, and ‘twould be a most incorrect assumption if you think I am not prepared for one.”

[roguishbard]

etosvitri‌:

“Oh no,” Demi says, scritching under Nuisance’s chin even as Thancred scoops her up, “she made it real crystal you’re the favourite.  Could hardly get her to stop sleepin’ on your chest long ‘nough to come with us.  Don’t think she believed the whole rift-crossin’ thing, but who would?”

Nuisance makes a chittering sound as her chin is scritched, her tail flicking back and forth as she wiggles frantically until Thancred’s grip on her loosens and she can climb up to perch on his shoulder. “Did she now?” The rogue-turned-gunbreaker murmurs, rubbing the nutkin on the spot ‘twixt her ears with a finger. “Well, if that’s the case then I’m thankful you brought her. We wouldn’t want her to waste away from pining, the poor creature.”

[roguishbard]

alisaie-leveilleur‌:

A grin finds its way to Alisaie’s face. “I’m afraid any knowledge I might have will avail naught, Uncle,” she responds with a smile tugging at her lips; a sign of the laughter she kept hidden away. “Although I can say that whoever it was that took her with could’ve instead brought aught more…practical. A book, or piece of equipment or well gods only know what lie in those bags.”

“Considering what else might be kept in those bags, I daresay we’re lucky Nuisance is all that’s turned up,’ Thancred jests, an easy smile on his face. They’re coming more often, now, compared to their rarity over the last five or so years. “She may not be practical, but she is, at the very least, not a health hazard.”

[roguishbard]

darkenedsteppemoon‌:

“You killed yourself.”  Flexing her hand, the young woman winced quietly at the feeling.  Sure, he wasn’t the ONLY one engaged in stupid ass behavior, if she were to count the cracks slowly spreading up her arms that were hidden from sight, “Or damn near, if you count what Urianger said.”  The Au Ra’s voice was shaking, for the first time in a long time, “…We can’t work as well without you, idiot.   I always thought of you as reckless.  You think more with your heart, but…This was just….” And now a deep drink from her cup.  It was sorely needed.

“I wasn’t about to give anything less than my all,” Thancred said, any hint of playfulness gone from his voice as he regarded Run with a tired expression, jaw set. “If that meant I fell, then so be it.” He paused, gaze dropping to the hand he’s clenched into a fist beside him. “I’m well aware that in this situation we need everyone to stay alive if at all possible, but when the alternative was Ran’jit capturing or harming her, my options were clear. My life is not so great a sacrifice, in comparison to her wellbeing.”

[roguishbard]

darkenedsteppemoon‌:

@roguishbard

“…I knew you were an idiot, but I didn’t know how bad it was.”  A drink in hand, she sat cross-legged in front of him, quietly staring in to the liquid, teeth clenched as she fought the urge to yell.   He knew fair well that this Warrior was none-too-fond of him, and yet…well.  She still cared.

“I assure you, you’re not the only one to want to give me an earful over what happened,” Thancred answered with a rueful shrug of his shoulders. Run had never liked him, never thought much of him at all, really, and that’s fair--- nor had it ever bothered him. After all, an honest dislike was far better than a false friendship, and personal differences aside they were nonetheless allies. But even so, he could see the tension in her shoulders as he watched her through tired eyes, hand not-quite twitching from his side as he fought the urge to rest it over his heart. “But I’ll never claim to regret it. It bought you the time you needed to get away, did it not?”

[roguishbard]

etosvitri‌:

Demi’s pointedly not going to look at him while she reads her book and covertly passes the nutkin more nuts.  It wasn’t her, nope, definitely not; she absolutely, one-hundred percent did not have Nuisance squirreled (alright, that was bad) away in her pocket when they found the beacon.  It must have been somebody else who loves cute, adorable animals.

“Pointedly not looking at me is as good as an admission, you know,” Thancred says, finding a seat next to Demi and scooping Nuisance up into his arms. “And do stop bribing her with those; if I’m to remain her favorite person I cannot be outdone.” He isn’t actually concerned about that, of course, but it’s a matter of form to complain about someone else spoiling his pet.

[roguishbard]

“Would someone kindly tell me whose bag Nuisance stole away in to manage to be transported bodily to the First? I need to know where she hid so that she’ll be able to make it safely home once we manage to return. ‘Twould be unfortunate to awaken to realize she’d been left here. Though I can’t say I’d miss finding acorns in my boots every morn...”

[roguishbard]

//Who’s finally ready to rock, RP-wise? C:

// -wiggles fingers- lessgo