filikos | Inbox

The arm around him is accepted without complaint.

Emet leaves the square - and those 'friends' - behind as he strolls onward down the docks. "You could have bathed had you waited for a few short minutes on the ship. Otherwise, you'll have to use the inn." Emet complains. They could head back, of course, if he can manage to steer Hythlodaeus in that direction. Somehow he doubts that to be possible.

He shoots Hythlodaeus a look. "Although it would seem a shame to dishevel your hair after working so hard on it."

"I wished to explore." Considering he's still walking away from the boat, it stands to reason that he won't be persuaded all that easily to return.

"I suppose you have a point, though... I will have to keep my hair out of the water." He wonders where the inn is. A change of scenery isn't unwelcome, in Hythlodaeus' opinion, and they will have plenty of time to explore the boat later. "Lead me to the inn, if you would."

"Very well." He says, dismayed at all this taking place. They could have done this in a more convenient manner.

Emet leads through the lower portion of the decks to the upper decks. He makes it a priority to point out any seasonally appropriate decorations along the way from the ongoing festival, just to make sure Hythlodaeus notices the things he may enjoy most. An unintentional look of reverence may be slipped in - indicative of him enjoying such small moments.

They reach the heights of the Limsa deck where a nearby castle looms. Its door is wide open, and there seems to be a smattering of guests at various tables inside.

"It's that way." Emet indicates with a point. "I trust you'll want a room?"

Hythlodaeus notes the look, and his own quiet look of adoration is probably very obvious to anyone looking at them. They very much look like a couple, walking together like this.

"Yes, you can wait inside while I bathe." Looking around the tables, he lets Emet-Selch lead him to the innkeeper. "Greetings, friend! We would like an inn room together."

They get a hearty chuckle from the innkeeper who obviously mistakes them for a couple in the same manner as everyone else. He pats Emet on the shoulder knowingly as he leads the way to their room, before "leaving the lovebirds to it". Hythlodaeus, for his part, seems unrattled- nor does he correct the large man. He simply waves and leads Emet inside. "What a charming fellow."

Emet shoots the inkeep a vary obvious dirty look. Of course, he gets the implication but that doesn't make giving him a pat on the shoulder for it any less appalling. Regardless, he says nothing to counter the point. Protesting always implicates the guilty.

He trails as they proceed to the room.

"Charming indeed." He grumbles once they arrive in the room. A corner room - he notices - one less liable to bother neighbors with noise. How cheeky.

"Must you phrase things in such a way?" Emet asks. "I have my reputation to consider." With the other Ascians, at the very least!

"Oh? And whatever could I have said to tarnish your immaculate reputation, I wonder?"

He plucks the flower from his shirt with a flourish and moves to weave it into Emet-Selch's hair, smirking. "Any untoward implications are entirely of your own making." He steps back to admire Emet with a flower in his hair, before turning to start undoing his shirt. Of Emet's own making, indeed.

"I won't be long." He steps into the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him. When he exits again around ten minutes later, he's wrapped in a towel with the ends of his hair damp, but still weaved into the flowered braid.

Again, there are no motions to protest. Emet stands there with a resignation indicative of many years of learning to endure Hythlodaeus' embellishments, but with a look that betrays his willingness to continue for years to come.

Once Hytholdaeus excuses himself to the shower, Emet takes to looking around the room. The Inn has been here for many years but he has never deigned to step inside one. He wanders over to the corner where the Orchestron sits and he paws at it until it starts to play a soft melody.

So many minutes pass without his awareness of them. It's only when he hears the door click shut behind him that he turns and sees a freshly bathed Hythlodaeus.

Emet approaches and fusses with the flowers in Hythlodaeus' hair. "You've drowned some of the blooms." He runs a hand over them to breathe more life into the wilting petals. Somehow they look even more vibrant than before. "These are extraordinarily delicate. Consider being more careful in the future."

"My mistake. I had hoped I was careful enough." Either way, if it gives Emet a reason to be close by, Hythlodaeus can't bring himself to mind.

The music has Hythlodaeus humming, before he takes Emet by the hands and starts to dance a little. Mostly it's just swaying their hands together, but he seems content to do so anyway. "Could I trouble you for a different outfit? You have so much aether, after all..."

He kind of just wants to see what Emet will dress him in. The novelty of wearing actual tailored garments hasn't worn off- he still feels odd in them but if Emet picked them out, he finds they're more comfortable.

Emet tucks a hand by his back and indulges Hythlodaeus in a few eloquent ballroom dance steps within a wide circle. 'Solas' had lived the life of a dignitary and he knew how to dance. Though he often didn't engage in such activities.

"More accouterments?" He asks. "Is there something wrong with what I've just made for you?"

"Do most people not have many sets of clothing to choose from here? Even home, we had multiple sets of robes."

He giggles at the courtly dancing, though. It's oddly attractive, and he lets himself spin close and then back out again with a grin. "Well well, aren't we charming. I'm afraid if you're trying to distract me, your task is far from over, though. Come now, I know you're just brimming with unused aether. One more outfit shouldn't trouble a man of your capabilities."

"Flattery, is it." Not to say that wouldn't get Hythlodaeus what he wants. On occasion.

With a snap, the clothing he would wear would glow a bright white before shifting into a different shape. The light dies down to reveal a purple chest wrap with a black tunic underneath. There are several silver adornments of varying thickness around the chest and forearms. His thigh-high boots and pats are also black with the same intricate silver trimmings. It seems like something that is designed to be easy to wear but tough enough to endure combat if need be.

It would come with the proper undergarments to match if he dared notice. It wasn't beyond his escape that Hythlodaeus had been in a towel, of all things.

"I hope this one is more suited to your liking." He gives a soft shrug. "I dare say I've met dignitaries far less distinguished."

Flattery tends to work well in combination with incessant nagging, so Hythlodaeus was quite sure he'd get what he wanted eventually. He's still holding Emet's other hand, but he does look down and hum a pleased sound at the outfit.

"Perfect. We can bring my other clothes with us to the boat, that I can wear them again at a later date."

He pauses, before giving Emet a cheeky smile. "Now, where were we? I do believe you were showing me how a man of your stature dances?" It's amusing to him to think of Emet dancing, and yet the man pulled it off so well. "'Twould be a waste of perfectly good music to sit idle."

"I was doing nothing of the sort." Emet coaches his voice to sound delightfully mystified - He can be cheeky sometimes, too.

All while he helps Hythlodaeus put his hands in their proper place - one on his shoulder and the other clasped in his hand. It's the typical posture for traditional ballroom dancing when he had last delved into it some years past.

Hythlodaeus rolls his eyes, but smiles as he's moved into position. He gives the hand in his a fond squeeze, and waits for further instruction.

"No need to be shy. I won't tell anyone that the esteemed Emet-Selch dances if you won't."

He winks, rather enjoying himself. This is a side of Emet that he's unused to, but he supposes over the years the man would have changed slightly. He's still painfully Hades, and yet... the edge that he usually had to him seems to have softened slightly. Perhaps all that time missing Hythlodaeus means he appreciates his presence all the more.

"See that you don't," Emet says firmly.

He keeps his opposite hand in the proper placement on Hythlodaeus' back and uses it to begin to lead in a sweeping circular motion. The steps are kept slow and deliberate given the probable level of familiarity.

All the while he keeps his eyes on Hythlodaeus, a soft meaningful glance of gratitude that he has this moment to share. Hopefully, there would be many more moments in the future.

That look makes Hythlodaeus' heart flutter a little- he loves the way Emet meets his eyes, and he feels the gratitude in his gaze. The look is reciprocated, adoration written plain in his features, a small smile on his face that for once isn't the result of him being up to something.

He picks up the simpler steps easily enough, made easy by Emet leading so well. After a while he chuckles, moving slightly closer. "An excellent dancer and teacher besides. 'Tis as I expected, of course."

"I am no teacher or dancer." Bitter denial until the end, as it were. "What knowledge I happen to bestow inside this room can remain unknown to the rest of the world."

After one more set of circular steps, he loosens his grip to allow Hythlodaeus to swing out and away if he wishes.

"Although it is rather pleasing to know that this 'meets' your expectations. I would not dare do anything less." Emet adds simply to tease. Only meeting expectations? That's certainly not Emet-Selch's modus operandi.

Swinging outwards, when Hythlodaeus swings back in again he's laughing. He's having fun, and it makes him happy to think that Emet is having fun with him.

"Only because you understand that you'd never hear the end of it." Taken by affection for his dear friend, though, he rests his head on his shoulder to turn it into something more of a slower dance. He loves this man, as he loves Azem. Not a soul could convince him otherwise. And though the years have eaten away at this Emet's mind and soul, he's still in there. His best friend.

"You know of it now." Emet comes to rest the side of his face on the crown of Hythlodaeus' head. "So, as you can imagine, I am already ill-fated to never hear the end of it." The words sound something like a sigh.

His amicable smile slowly fades as he sways, staring at nothing in particular against the wall. Even with someone he cherished so highly in his arms, the desire to continue his work is still there silently digging at him. It had been so long with the same goal. Even when he has someone he wants it's so difficult to let go. "Are you sure this is suitable for you? This...place? It's nothing similar to our home." He asks.

Hythlodaeus can't help but feel that Emet is trying to test his resolve- he squeezes the hand in his own lazily. "It isn't, that is true. But you bid me stay, and I would see my promise to you unbroken."

Even if he's sure that by now, the Emet-Selch back home is going nuts trying to find him. A fact that hurts his heart, but he cannot please both men at the same time.

"Unless you would rather I found a way to leave...?" He looks up at his friend, searching his eyes with his own softly glowing ones. He can usually read Emet like an open book, and something tells him now that he's antsy over his 'duties'. But he cannot have both.

"Ere you mistake my intentions- I would go most anywhere so long as you were by my side. I stay not out of obligation, but because I want to be with you. Certainly alone I would search for a way home, but that isn't the case. Your presence changes everything, as it always has and always will."

The gaze would be met. Having him look for a way back is definitely not his aim in asking, and there is a touch of sinking concern as soon as Hythlodaeus mentions the possibility.

"I am not the only one who chose the lofty goal of returning the world to what it once was." Most of them were gone by now - and one has goals that are only aligned until there is no one left - but even if he were gone the goal would not change. Their goals may clash at some time in the future. Someone would still be there to cause the destruction of the shards. What would they do? Fight against it?

"You have not yet seen the world as it is. There is death, war, and despair at the hands of men. Sickness and death consume this world."

Hythlodaeus hums, lowering his gaze. "Mayhap there is. What are you trying to convince me of? Would you have me leave or stay?"

He moves his hand from Emet's shoulder and touches his cheek, glancing back up in earnest. "I understand that you are in a difficult position. But know that if you continue on this course, I cannot stay. I haven't the power to oppose you, as I'm sure you're keenly aware. But even if I should stay here... I cannot stay with you."

And that breaks his heart. He knows he's being a hypocrite, too. He was clearly fine with sacrificing himself along with half of the population for Zodiark to come into existence. He was also likely fine with the plan to sacrifice another half to bring new life back to Etheirys. And knowing that new life would eventually be purged to make way for those who were sacrificed... again, he was likely fine with it.

But it's different when it's just a theory, and when you haven't seen that life bustling around you. And he knows that the people here have every right to want to protect their homes, their families, their lives. And he can't help but feel hope when he looks around, because despite something as terrible as the Final Days happening, mankind has endured.

But perhaps witnessing the Final Days would change him. He hasn't seen the suffering Emet-Selch has, not yet. He hasn't watched buildings collapse, people devoured by beasts, flames that touch the clouds.

Emet tilts his head to one side in order to lean into Hythlodaeus' hand. "This world is not the one you knew. You'll find nothing of the pleasantries that once existed."

His words are laced with the grief he has experienced over so many years. "For years I have seen it; man willing to betray another man so that they avoid the most minor inconveniences, People ruining the world for the sake of perceived profit and power, Their only purpose to prolong their frail lives in any way they may."

With such a mentality, tearing shards apart with small nudges became an art. It just took turning people against other people to accomplish much of it and they bought into it each time. "I have tried to see this beauty you claim exists. All I've come to see is how empty the world has become."

His tone changes to be more pleasant. "I want you to stay. I want you to join me to fix this misguided world."

Hythlodaeus closes his eyes sadly, ruminating on the offer. "And of what help could I be, pray tell?" He opens his eyes again curiously. "My sole talent would be of little use to you, and I lack your conviction."

He rubs his thumb against Emet's cheek fondly. "I suppose you would be the expert on how this world has changed. But sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is necessary, hm?" Sighing, he drops his hand and instead rests his forehead against the other man's. "I simply... I don't know that I have the strength to do what you do."

Maybe that's the core of it. He isn't strong enough. To kill these beings who seem so much like themselves... to destroy worlds... it isn't in his nature. He can take apart mere creations with ease, he can fight whatever tries to hurt him or his friends, but these people seem like they just don't deserve it. They feel pain, they understand terror... how can he inflict that upon them?

Emet lets his eyes fall shut as they rest their heads against one another.

What kind of help could he be? Hythlodaeus was ever wanting for recognition of his own value and talents, for what reason Emet could never quite define. Others saw them. The Convocation saw them. His numerous amounts of friends saw them.

"You underestimate your importance." Emet presses his head forward to warmly underline his point. "And as one often subject to your sheer displays of obstinacy, you underestimate your resolve."

open post

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject