Prompt #1: Voracious
About FFXIV Write | Personal Entries | by @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
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Voracious | adjective
1. wanting or devouring great quantities of food. 2. having a very eager approach to an activity.
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Everything grows so quiet when the sun sets behind the Crystarium's walls. Though the first couple weeks had nightfall as something akin to celebration, the evenings that followed slowly settled back into what you would so often see across the world of the Source--the rise of the moon begetting the time of sleep and fireside relaxation within the comforting walls of one's home. It's nice to see the people in such a way, a normal way, so happy to find peace in the darkness they had prayed for across so many decades of time.
You only wished you can say the same; the insomnia is one you've dealt with for a long time before stepping foot into the broken-and-healing realm. It clings to you much like the shadows of your namesake, leaving you wandering the near-empty hallways of the Crystarium than anything else worthwhile of your time. Though the nightly walks often kept you near the Pendants, it seems that tonight has led you a touch farther--to the library.
Though the expansive room always seems quiet, the fall of night has seemed to leave it nearly ethereal. Your eyes can see marry a single soul on the first level and barely a single book out of place. Though you should have turned on your heel and left--perhaps to at least try and get some sleep--your legs move you forward instead, towards and up the stairs.
The higher you ascend, the more focused you become of a sound that starts to but gently caress the air. A flick, a brush, a shuffle of light footsteps; someone else is in the library with you, though you've long had a hunch for who it might be even at this hour of the evening.
Upon reaching the top of the steps you find the young man half-hunched over a book, face buried so deep within it's pages that it's hard to see anything more than the cascade of hair that ripples over his shoulders, much the same way that the robe he wears does in kind.
"...Moren?" His name comes softly to your lips, as amused as it is concerned.
He must be particularly stuck inside the book held within his hands. When he hears the sound of your voice the young man jumps, letting out a soft cry while whirling around to face you, the book itself suddenly clutched tight against his chest. When his eyes finally rest upon you, however, he visibly relaxes and lets out a sigh.
"Goodness," he says softly. "You scared the light right out of me."
A smile of apology gently pulls at your lips. "Sorry about that," you say. "But what are you doing up here so late?"
You step closer to him, trying curiously to get an eye of the book's title in his arms. Moren himself looks flushed for a moment, his face red and his eyes averting from you as much as his torso does, leaving it hard to catch more than a few letters printed upon the tome.
"I was just reading," he says, firmly but with no bite. "I...couldn't sleep. What better way to spend useless time than by making it useful then?"
"What were you reading?"
The question, pointed as it is, is difficult for Moren to avoid. He eventually must decide that the secrecy isn't worth it and finally lowers his arms to let you see the full cover of the book: 'Tales before the Light and other Wondrous Things'
You may not know much of the First, but you can point out a fairy tale book when you see one, which leaves your eyes peering up at his flushed face with further amusement. Moren doesn't quite meet your gaze, but he does try to explain himself with a little bit of stuttering.
"Th-there's so much to learn about the night sky, I just...wanted to be one of those to know as much as I can."
He sighs and tugs the book back against his chest, almost oblivious to you as you step closer to him.
"A lot of the books in this library are older than The Flood, so I'm hoping to know what our forefathers thought and believed when they looked up to see it," he continues, completely unaware as you get closer still. "I want to learn as much as I can--...even if it's through some....rather childish fairy tales..."
When you finally lay a hand upon his shoulder, Moren's soft eyes flick to you in something that balances between surprise and wonder. Though you can only guess at the thoughts running through his kind, it's hard not to notice that he looks at you with a vague sort of awe, as one might have looking upon a vast storm or a wonder of nature--its equally not hard to see how his blush deepens a little.
"Learning is not something to be embarrassed of," you assure him. "I actually quite like when you read me some of those stories--but I think that is all best done after you've gotten some sleep, alright?"
Moren looks at you for a few moments, his lips pressed but his eyes speaking plenty for them. It's rather endearing.
So you laugh.
"I can walk you to your room if you like, and I'lll answer any question you have about the night sky--deal?"
Something flashes across the man's eyes at the promise of such knowledge, it's a look he can't hope to hide. But he nods enthusiastically, his lips tugging into a soft, eager smile before the two of you start to make your way down the stairs and into the gentle night.