What do they do when they’re away from each other?
Evangeline:
“When we are apart...hmm. I do like my alone time-that’s certainly true. Usually when the others are off gallivanting about, I find myself reading. Much more lately, to be honest. I like the quiet, so I generally find myself spending time in the stacks in the Crystarium. I’ve been brushing up on the history of the First lately-there is so much lore and civilisation there, and so much of it has been devastated or wiped out by the onset of the light. So much left forgotten…” Evangeline stares up into a corner of the ceiling, one of her legs bouncing up and down absentmindedly. “If I don’t remember it, then who will? Who will know these kingdoms lost to time? Will they simply fade to dust? And so I read. Maybe they will live on with me.” She sits, still staring for a moment, as if held in a stupor. Some time passes, and she seems to tear herself away from the point in space she is fixated on, righting herself and looking back to you.
“I also enjoy blacksmithing. A pastime for me, and a career for many others. It was, in fact, the type of work my mother performer for many years, and indeed what led her to meet my stepmother in the Royal City of Rabanastre all those years ago.” She looks tired now, the weight of the memory laying quietly across her shoulders. “I find it relaxing. The rhythm of it all. The clanging of the metal and the roaring of the furnace. It makes me feel as if I am part of the earth...and it makes me feel like I am close to my mother. Wherever I am. Not alone. Never alone.” She relaxes, the weight seeming to lift slightly, and she shifts her weight in the chair, opening her stance. “I do miss her. I’ll need to visit her and Natalia the next time I’m in the Beds.” She smiles softly.
“One of the other things I used to do was practice my cello...but I haven’t really found a good space for it these days. I used to play at home every once in a while, but Solenna told me her ears are particularly sensitive to baritone music. Urianger needs his quiet, of course, which I completely understand. Y’shtola said that she has the same sensitivity that Solenna does, which makes me wonder if it is a condition that is common among Miqo'te. I hope to start practicing again, if I can ever find somewhere to play…”
Solenna:
“In my spare time? Like...spare spare time or spare time?” The Miqo'te girl twitches her ears quizzically, twirling a lock of her shoulder length brown hair around her index finger. “Ahhh like me time stuff! Sure! Yeah! Sooo...I really like decorating and redecorating our house. A while back me and Eva managed to scrape together enough to buy a house just for us. And now Andy lives there too. And one of my faaaavorite things is to make our house look awesome!” She throws her arms into the air joyfully, a charming smile blooming on her face. “I love buying stuff...like...cabinets and chest of drawers and shelving and plants and just about anything you can use to make a place pretty! Then I shanghai Thancred or Urianger or someone and get them to help me lug it across town and install it. Where do you think Urianger got all that muscle from?” She giggles, waving her hand. “I know, I know, I could just move it with VerAero...but where’s the fun in that? Alphinaud will grow up big and strong if I can keep him carting window panes up and down the stairs like I have for the past few days.” She demonstrates by rolling back the sleeve of her white blouse and flexing, revealing an arm toned by years of practice with a rapier.
I also loveee to cook! Well, bake really. Cooking is fine and all, and I do that for dinner and stuff, but baking is way more fun! So sometimes when it’s just me around the house I’ll make myself some rolanberry tarts...or a pie…” She gazes off into the distance, licking her lips. “I’m sorry, what were we talking about?”
“Oh! Yes. So I also like to train. It takes a lot of discipline and balance to do what I do.” She tosses a crystalline object up in the air and it catches in midair well before it would start falling back towards her outstretched hand. “I train like you would on a mountain under a waterfall, but without the mountain or the waterfall. It’s all in my head.” She smirks, and the object begins to glow, colourful lights emitting from the edges, binding together in the centre to form one dominant colour: red.
Andreas:
“You mean like when Eva and Sol aren’t around? Well...I tend to keep myself busy. I talk to people... sometimes I sleep with them, sometimes I fight with them. Sometimes I do chores for them, or get drunk with them. It’s a big world out there, and sometimes I just kind of...go. Experience it. The past few months I’ve been spending some time with Estinien, but he’s been a bit broody even for me lately, so I’m off on my own a lot more. And sure, I miss the girls, but it’s nice to let loose every once in a while.” The massive Au Ra man winks, and chuckles to himself. From his tunic he pulls an ornately carved pipe, made of a dark wood you can only assume originated in Yanxia somewhere. He lights the pipe with an effortless snap of his gauntleted fingers. He looks to you and laughs, wiggling his fingers in your direction. “You like it? I put flint in the thumb to see if it would work one time...and it did!” He takes a long drag on the pipe, and releases a thick ring of dark smoke from between pursed lips.
“Duelling is also a passion of mine. There is nothing quite like a good fight, and the easiest way to find one is to look for other people who fight professionally. I take all comers, large or small. The Dotharl do not discriminate.” He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head and crossing his legs. He looks to you, his golden eyes glowing; and for a moment he very very much looks like the draconic beings from which his bloodline stems. He places a hand on his dark scaled chin, smirking. “What about you, stranger? Will you give me the gift of a worthy opponent?”