#thelittlestkojin

[primalvessel]

@the-littlest-kojin​ - starter!

The early days after the Warrior’s climactic battle were very much a blur to the feline who spent much of the time in its wake, asleep and recovering from his wounds and the energy needed to close them far quicker than was natural. But as soon as he’d started getting back on his feet, he’d been visited by Y’shtola.

She’d seen him during their jaunt in the First. She’d seen him afterwards, bearing the scars to his soul that none other than she could see. And now, since he was already in Old Sharlayan, what was to stop him from seeing an acquaintance of hers?

She was persistent about it too, even when ambulating further than the bathroom and back was tiring for him.

Eventually though he was mobile enough for short walks and after she’d assured him that there would indeed be seating at the other end for him to rest, he’d finally acquiesced, mostly to make her stop pestering him about it. 

So there he was at the Studium, asking after one Conroy Rayne. Given Y’shtola’s persistence, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Archon was already expecting a visit from him...

[primalvessel]

@the-littlest-kojin technically liked the starter call. So I wrote a thing for Gologa because I love him.

The thud as he hit the mats again was audible as the tumble he took was harder, his landing awkward and he didn’t immediately rise afterwards either. The staff he’d been training with had been spun out of his grip and sent sailing somewhere across the room.

He stared at the ceiling, perpetually dark on the right side and just lay there, feeling his various aches and hurts all vying for his attention, warring with his gradually improving sense of hearing that alerted him to the shift of stance in the Hrothgar nearby.

“No more,” the feline said from the floor and his voice trembled with a mix of frustration at himself, anger at Gologa for taking him to the mat yet again and a bone-deep exhaustion that was because of more than just the training wearing him down.

Was he getting better? Absolutely. But if he couldn’t consistently compensate for his loss of sight, he wasn’t going to be good enough to anyone.

And it felt like so much time had passed since he’d been so grievously wounded that he should be further along in his recovery than he was.

“Please... I can’t...”

And he hated it.

[primalvessel]

Prompt: Gologa finally tells Maru that his training is complete and takes him out drinking in reward.

Send  a prompt (a scene/situation/event) and I’ll write a little drabble/ficlet for our muses.

There were times when the feline thought the training would never end. There were days where he wanted to just give up, fade into obscurity and never raise a lance again. There were days where the struggle had gotten to him so badly that even Gologa, who had pushed and pushed to the point of breaking, even he had to allow them both to take a step back lest he push the Miqo’te to walking away completely.

Finally though, after moons upon moons of training Gologa had announced that the feline’s training was complete.

The first round (on Gologa of course) could not have tasted any sweeter and not just because the feline had picked the sweetest drink on the menu.

Their cups clinked as they shared a toast and for the first time since returning near dead from the edge of space, Maru was content. He was animated and lively, ears flicking and tail swaying idly behind him.

“Next time I’m just dying,” he announced after the pair of them had set their cups back upon the table and idle fingers turned his cup on its surface. “It’ll be a damn sight easier than what you put me through.”

“Yes, it would,” the Hrothgar agreed without refuting the claim. “You asked for it though.”

As if Gologa had ever let him live that down. Every time the cat had gotten frustrated, Gologa had reminded him until Maru had gotten accurate enough to punch him in the mouth the last time he’d gone to say it. He swore that if he ever heard the words again he was going to stick himself with his own lance and be done with it.

Maru hadn’t missed the glint in the Hrothgar’s eye though and he’d swear that there was at least a hint of pride there.

“You owe me another drink for saying those gods-damned words again,” he replied, sounding a little pained and his ears laid flat. It certainly paved the way forward for a night of drinking though with Maru’s low tolerance, it probably wouldn’t be a very long one...

[primalvessel]

@the-littlest-kojin liked for a smol starter!

It had been a last resort. He’d drained his own aether to the brink of exhausting it completely and just as he’d intended, he’d been flooded with the aether of the primal who did indeed watch over him.

It filled him to the point of overflowing, pushed his consciousness to the side and warped his appearance to better suit the leonine primal that filled the form in place of the Warrior of Light.

The Dreadscholar would not find him falling as easily as the others who had opposed him.

[primalvessel]

"You need to rest. Come by the W' camp, you need to spend some time not pushing yourself. You can't keep always being on alert."

-W'Lahka

Not for the first time, the Miqo'te was glad that he'd agreed to allow the scions to teach him his letters. While his understanding was still rudimentary by comparison, it meant that he could at least read the occasional mooglemail he was the recipient of, even if it took him longer than it would the average Eorzean to get through even short missives.

And of course, he didn't realise quite how much he needed to see the words written 'pon the paper until they were right there in front of him.

It was less of an invitation and more of a command and even penned as it was, it had the desired effect.

Like a welcome compulsion, the dragoon was drawn from his tasks, drawn from the constant need to to be present for people to rely upon and W tribe's camp appeared like a mirage before him after some time of travel. He would have been there sooner if not for the effect of Aetheryte travel upon him those days.

He probably didn't even need to announce himself as he sought the tribe's leader, though he yet refused to show the weariness that W'lahka knew weighed his shoulders down and made his footsteps heavy. At least in the face of the other tribesmembers he maintained the air of amicable wariness.

Only once he was in the company of the small but mighty leader would he let on just how much he needed someone to look after him for a change.

And as soon as he laid eyes upon the older Miqo'te, the vessel's ears perked up as if in anticipation of his first command.

[primalvessel]

"So," Ban rumbles, "I understand it is your nameday."

Picking Maru up as if he weighs no more than a kitten, Ban lays the hero out on the inn room's bed, face-down.

"Relax. You deserve a full massage. If you're a good boy, it can go further."

There was nothing quite like being manhandled by Ban. It was strange to think, even when he was at full strength, but he felt safe in the former pirate's arms. Not only that but just being able to sit back and let someone else do the hard work was nice too.

"A whole, full massage?" he replied in a happy, lazy drawl. He definitely liked the sound of that.

"Mm, I suppose, just for you, I'll be a good boy today."

[primalvessel]

@the-littlest-kojin

He'd not paid to use the facilities; he wasn't supposed to be up there. He wasn't usually one to use his status to get free stuff either, but so long as no-one came up to use the tub, he figured it'd be okay to just be on the roof.

It wasn't the same kind of vantage point as the top of the Hostelry that he favoured but it was closer to earth, and therefore, closer to Ban.

The night sky stretched above, studded with stars that he knew the Roe could navigate the seas with, should he need to. Leaning back on his hands, Maru peered up at them and began picking out what constellations he could in a sky that wasn't as familiar as it could be.

A sound across the roof from him prompted the turn of a fuzzy ear and he listened intently for voices. Partially hidden by the tub, he shifted into a crouch, ready to drop from his vantage point. The door was pushed open on well-oiled hinges but there didn't come the sound of a group to use the facilities - chatter, multiple footsteps and the like.

Only a single pair of footsteps that paused just beyond the door and then a soft scoff and a familiar voice.

"Should I be offended that you'd be so close and yet not ask for me?" Ban asked as he approached in time to see the Seeker settle back down.

"You're working," Maru replied softly though with an appropriate amount of meekness. "I didn't want to get in the way of a man making an honest living."

"There are such things as breaks, Maru."

And the Miqo'te didn't really have a comeback for that. His ears lowered fractionally but before he could rise to meet the haori-clad Roegadyn, Ban closed the distance and took a seat behind the feline who returned to his former position with the warmth of his lover at his back. Welcomed into Ban's lap, Maru sighed softly in contentment.

A large hand descended to his head and gave his hair a ruffle, right between his ears and he could hear the fond exasperation in the Roe's voice.

"You worry too much. I should think that the saviour of the world would be owed more than the company of his lover, should he so desire it. The inn will manage without me for a time."

"I know," the feline replied with a sigh, sounding as though he was going to continue, only for Ban's hand to slide across his lips and gently encourage him to tilt his head back.

"No buts," Ban interrupted, letting his hand drop into the feline's lap when he received a small nod of assent. "I'm here now, and I can stay as long as you'd like me to."

[primalvessel]

(Minor modification to the line to make it work for Ban)

"You stole another one of my haoris, didn't you?"

"No."

He says, while drowning in another one of Ban's haoris.

@the-littlest-kojin