💕 for Keim x Lion (did you think you'd escape this)
Good grief, I’ve got a lot of screenshots for this ship.
Purple and Red… It’d certainly be an intriguing relationship. You, out of all, should’ve gotten a glimpse of what their relationship would look like at this point. Assuming they can get past those differences–mainly concerning monogamy and ‘side-deals’–it’d be quite interesting.
You were correct–if he took interest in the elusive Eel, he’d definitely court her first. Assuming you can pry him off of his ledgers, work books and pamphlets, you would find Lion try to gain her favor with various, small acts–subtle, and not-so-subtle–would he shower her with. For example… She’d get an odd invitation during his work-hours to visit the Company’s quarters, only to take her out for a midnight stroll through the beaches of the Mist. He would be most casually dressed, and would converse with her in a light, kind manner, genuinely listening to her interests, woes, and every-day trivialities. Eventually, he’d halt her at the threshold where foam-met-sand, smoothly slip an arm around her waist, and allow her to lean against him. This element would become the founding trait and virtue of their relationship–reliability.
Deeper into the relationship, he’d eventually relinquish his snarky, agitated attitude (providing work genuinely doesn’t pick at his nerves) and offer her his more chivalrous side of person. There’d be angst as well, mistake yourself not–dating Lion means dating the baggage he drags from his past, as well. Just admitting to her his deeds and misdeeds from eons past would unsettle him greatly. There’d also be the matter of him having to frequently depart for… Various missions, both of personal interest and Company endeavors all the same. So it would definitely be a relationship with both boons and flaws.
But how does real Lion differ from AU Lion?
Real Lion is a lot more down-to-earth. He’s not as snickery-snarky right off the bat, but he’s also far, far less childish and more stoic. He still retains his own taste for humor, much akin to the current one busy with AU Keim, and some aspects of their intimacy & privacy settings would also be subject to change.
He’d treat her with more respect, mainly. Not just as a girlfriend or wife… But as a person, in general. He’d offer her a lot of tiny details to spice up their life, teach her how to cook, take her out on a date with their chocobos involved at some green pasture, something like a picnic–but for all parties involved.
And… Ultimately, yes. They’d grow happily old together. He’d be incredibly doting the deeper they went into age by one another, and at times he’d struggle–at least early on–not to succumb to a need to proclaim his love, and later on, cement their relationship. Note that this, when I say ‘early on’, generally means 1-2 years into dating, not dropping the L or M bombs 2 months into their relationship.
As a byproduct of this, as you’ve skillfully hinted, would be a most fruitful relationship. The first herald of this would be their firstborn, full-blooded Sea Wolf son, Ganzfedar, yet his own fate would be quite difficult to discern, since he’d have to make a choice between following the lineage of his father’s side, or forge his own path as instructed by his mother. Essentially, a choice of freedom in two different variations–freedom of choosing, and the freedom of the two Seas, Sky and Water, unified under the banner of piracy.
Down the road, the cradle would only grow larger and larger. Lion, canonically, does possess a few genes that influence this–he comes from a line of Wolves in which the extreme rarity of twins is… Less rare, to put it plain. His grandfathers both had their twin bonds, and his own bond with younger Lion empathizes this. Alongside boys, there’d of course be a few lil’ gals as well.
A relationship, as it stands, might be just the only thing among a few that could ever hope to keep his footing in Eorzea, instead of sailing away once his own final arc, sans spoilers, is played in one particular story.
