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The pizza is gradually picked at while Hythlodaeus rests comfortably on his decidedly 'captive cushion'. Emet plays his part and stays as still as possible to let him rest. The occasional fireworks over the sea could be their entertainment as continually pop overhead.

Soon, his food is finished and sets the box down beside him on the crate. It's fortunate that it's not daytime or hungry sea birds may have not let them eat in such peace.

"We hadn't yet explored much of what the port has to offer," Emet explains. "Although, I suspect you have some of your bearings now with delivering letters."

"That is true." He offers Emet-Selch a hand anyway, smiling. "Our other option is to retire to our home... perhaps we can go for a little sail?"

He's never steered a boat before, but he's sure Emet has that covered.

"The sky is certainly beautiful tonight, after all. Dark cobalt skies glittering with all kinds of possibilities, if Hermes is to be believed." He still doesn't understand how Emet sees no beauty here, but he's determined to show him.

All kinds of possibilities. It sounds so poetic - or perhaps painfully optimistic - when put in that light. Looking at the sky had only provided him with vast loneliness over so many years.

"Have you sailed before?" Emet asks by way of answering. They could go out onto the water, far beyond where the bustle of the city could be heard. That sounds peaceful.

Hythlodaeus shakes his head. "Not once, sadly. I would very much like for my first time on the water to be with you."

His hand is still held out, a patient smile on his lips. Despite their earlier argument- if you could really call it that- he still looks at Emet-Selch like he holds far more possibility than the skies and the ocean ever could. That endless potential for life pales in comparison to the love he has for his friend.

A new pair of gloves that have been tailored to go with the clothes are slipped on. Then he finally takes Hythlodaeus' hand into his and stands.

"If you get seasick on me, I will be forced to promptly fling you overboard," Emet says flatly. Is he joking or not? It's difficult to say.

Even so, he makes towards the ship and only just lets Hythlodaeus' hand go as he puts distance between them. It was definitely not hurried.

"And ruin these nice clothes? I think not." He follows after Emet-Selch with a smile, picking up his clothing first so he can wear it another time.

Once back on the boat, he heads back inside to deposit the clothing in the bedroom, before coming back out to stand beside Emet. "So, where to?" His eyes scan the surface of the sea- there are souls even in the water, he realises. These creatures have been inhabiting the ocean for a very long time, it seems.

Dark is starting to fall on the city again. The coral color from the light reflects on the stones that build most of the city, giving it an odd sort of glow.

"Just outside the city should afford us some quiet and let us become more acclimated to sailing besides." He says wistfully while kneeling down to untie the rope that keeps the ship secured to the dock. It immediately starts drifting away into deeper water. "Airships are the preferred travel method in Garlemald, so I've not sailed in some time."

It's all very beautiful to Hythlodaeus, who leans against the edge of the boat with a smile as they start to sail.

"Then you've been missing out... look at this view." His eyes are bright as he stares at Limsa slowly getting further away from them. Then he turns to face Emet-Selch, elbows leaning against the sides of the boat. The sun behind him sets his eyes to glowing in the relative shadow of his face. "Come, look out upon the water with me."

The city gets further away and the sun sets completely, and Hythlodaeus feels a chill coming in from the sea. He hadn't anticipated that, but rather than bother Emet-Selch for more clothes he heads back inside for a blanket. When he comes back outside it's wrapped around him snugly, and he breathes in the crisp air contentedly. The stars above them, the sea below, and Emet-Selch at his side- what isn't to love?

Emet does as requested, opting to lean against the edge of the boat and watch the view instead of continuing to fret with the boat. It's just as well. They could slowly drift to sea rather than steer the boat with any sort of intent.

So he resigns to watch the city for a time. Occasionally, one could see some enthusiastic denizens of Limsa let loose their personal sparklers and light up the distance with their own manner of fireworks.

He would periodically look in Hythlodaeus' direction and silently pawn it off as taking interest in some far-off sight in a similar direction. How Hythlodaeus could be so happy for a view such as this one, he didn't know. Not that he's staring.

"They have a festival every summer such as this one," Emet says distantly. "It was started as an initiative to drive out an incursion of fiends that descend on the land but spun to be a celebration instead. To make it more palatable to the masses."

"Hm," he replies vaguely, stepping closer to Emet-Selch under the pretence of warming up a little. Then he offers up some of his blanket, silently hoping Emet takes it. "And so a tradition began."

He glances at Emet-Selch, catches him looking, and smirks a little. "Enjoying the view, friend?" He knows exactly what Emet was looking at, he'd be a fool not to. But he will feign ignorance if only for Emet-Selch's pride, just this once. Because if Emet gets grumpy about it, well... it might just ruin the moment.

Not to say he can't be a little cheeky about it, though.

"Have you seen all of the souls down below?" He leans over the side slightly. "Hundreds of thousands of them, like a sea of stars. I wonder what creatures await in the depths." Too bad he can't go look.

That comment earns a scowl that has caused many dignitaries to second guess their worth in the past. It's a silent challenge for him to say another disparaging word about what he was looking at. Thankfully, the subject is changed before he can ever speak of it. The look, however, is probably enough to confirm Hythlodaeus' suspicions of what Emet had been looking at.

"I have only seen them in passing," Emet fusses as he takes a corner of the blanket and throws it over his shoulder. His clothes are warmer and less susceptible to the cold, but he's not trying to warm himself in this case.

Emet looks over the side of the boat and past their reflections. There are little pinpricks of light down below, just as there are above them. They swim around lazily and erratically. "Most people are afraid of what creatures that dwell in the sea. They would sooner avoid them." He says somberly. "They are not beautiful concepts to be admired for these people. They are to be exploited or feared."

Hythlodaeus has no such reservations about saying what he thinks, even under that scornful gaze. He leans against his friend with a contented sigh, eyes on the water.

"Perhaps. Hermes would not be happy." Neither would Mitron, he wages. Not that he knows the man well, but as the Convocation's specialist on aquatic life he might have something to say about it.

"It's a good thing we are here to admire them in their stead, hmm?" He glances up at Emet coyly, watching him from behind his lashes. His hand finds Emet's under the sheet and he links their fingers together, before turning his gaze upwards this time to the stars. He says nothing for now, just enjoying their closeness and the silence.

He looks up to the sky in an effort to follow Hythlodaeus' line of sight. The stars shine there, as they always have been, with their silent vigil over Etheirys.

"At least the stars have not changed." Emet observes. "They may be in a different location from shard to shard, but they are the same stars that have existed since antiquity all the same." He exhales, a huff of his breath visible in the cooling outside air. He runs a thumb over their hands. "A small comfort to think you were always there every time I looked up."

"Would that I could have accompanied you sooner." He sounds somber as he says it- he hates to think that his friend had to bear his burden alone.

"But I'm here now. You no longer need look anywhere but beside you to find me." He looks back to Emet-Selch, smiling fondly. His greatest accomplishment would always have been to help his friends achieve their dreams. What more was he good for, really? He had no grand aspirations of his own, nor the means to achieve them. But Emet-Selch was different. And Hythlodaeus wanted nothing more than to be able to see him happy, his dreams fulfilled.

If only his dreams didn't involve the things they did, now.

It's an unspoken question on whether that would continue to be true with what he hoped to accomplish with the Rejoining, or if Hythlodaeus could forgive what he had done to get to where they are now. Would getting back what they lost, in turn, sacrifice everything he has left? It would be a cruel irony.

For now, Emet looks down at the water as his eyes harbor the hidden worry. Even if the corner of his mouth tugs backward with a small show of banter to mask any concerns. "I suppose someone must keep you warm." He says by way of deriding their current predicament under a blanket, in which they are both - conveniently - by each other's side in the hopes to warm up.

He can't hide his worry from Hythlodaeus, not when he knows him so well. But he simply squeezes the hand in his own reassuringly. "Of course. And might I add, you make an excellent heater."

Though his reasons for wanting to be close to Emet-Selch aren't quite so straightforward, and as much is likely obvious. Glaringly so, because Hythlodaeus doesn't cling to all of his friends this way. Quite the opposite. But he always has found comfort in being close to Hades, and if the man will indulge him then who is he not to do so?

All the same, Emet did not covet all of his friends in this way. There were others who were important to him, that he felt were precious, but they would not be treated with the same care and attention he grants to Hythlodaeus.

Emet purses his lips skeptically and adds with a huff, "Fortunately, I have some marketable talents otherwise." Other than just being 'warm'.

He meets Hythlodaeus' gaze. It's been so long since he's seen someone with eyes that glow in such a way; a characteristic long-missing for him after so many lives. "That aside, it need not be said that I will always welcome your presence at my side." Not that he's saying it now.

"And I yours." He's struck a little by Emet's gaze, despite the lack of a glow there. He's always loved the golden hue of them, and the affection he sees behind them- affection he's sure he affords nobody else. It makes him feel like he's actually worth something when he's looked at that way. Not that he thinks so lowly of himself as to think he's worth nothing- no, he knows he has his talents. But he'll never be anything like Emet-Selch.

He turns slightly to face him more, his smile warming his eyes as he continues to meet Emet's. "I am glad we could share this moment. I will hold it close, as I hope you will."

Emet's expression turns a touch warm.

All he's had to hold onto were memories of the distant past or the conversations he's had in Amaurat. The shadow of Hythlodaeus had eased some of the pain but not all. Telling a shadow his feelings was foolhardy, he knew this, a mere shadow lacked the same welcoming smile and warm embrace as he has now. He'd almost forgotten how important that is over lifetimes.

"As I always have, no matter the distance between us." He lifts a palm and carefully puts it over their clasped hands as if to tentatively express the words he dared not say.

Hythlodaeus finds himself torn, in that moment. It feels like it could be right for him just to lean in and steal a kiss. Surely he could? How would Emet-Selch respond to such a gesture? He doesn't want to ruin anything. This is such a pleasant moment, after all. For all he knows his friend, he doesn't know if he's just terribly misreading his signals, getting caught up in his own feelings and seeing something that isn't there. Heh... how unlike him, to feel so unsure around his dearest friend of all people.

He soon realises he would be rather unhappy if Emet turned him down, and chooses to pause despite the opportunity being right there. In this one instance, he cannot simply follow his own whims and expect Emet-Selch to join in. No, he will wait until the man feels the time is right. If he ever does, that is... he may well be waiting for a moment that never comes.

Caught up in his inner conflict, he says nothing. His eyes search Emet's but he doesn't trust his own judgement despite what he sees. So he simply holds Emet's hands to his chest, in the end. What a delightful predicament he's found himself in.

Imagining what could have been typically consumed his thoughts as he wandered the phantom-filled streets of Amaurat. It spurred him onward through every difficult choice and atrocity that need be committed. All for the chance to have a life where he is happy again. With Hythlodaeus taking his hand, he could feel the dangerous awareness of joy begin to bubble within him, threatening him with that feeling of happiness if he dared pursue it.

He lifts his free hand and brings his fingers to Hythlodaeus' chin, gently sliding the flat of his palm to the side of his face. Emet gently coaxes him into a more preferred angle as he leans forward and lets their lips meet - but only just. It serves as an implied question if such a thing is allowed.

The chance to have Hythlodaeus by his side had been a wish that he'd bore for lifetimes, and he would not make the mistake of letting it pass him by.

The spark that is so clearly there as their lips meet just cements that this is right, that it always has been. Hythlodaeus' heart races, but despite the sudden urge to kiss back in earnest he keeps it soft, even if his eagerness to respond is obvious anyway. His eyes close automatically, leaning in further.

He hasn't had lifetimes alone to imagine this, but he's certainly thought about it plenty regardless. To play his love off as entirely platonic would be folly, and he isn't a fool. But it never felt like the right time, the right place. That it would take Emet-Selch so long to take the initiative means nothing in the face of the fact that he actually did it.

Sighing through his nose contentedly, Hythlodaeus squeezes the hand in his own, still held firmly to his chest.

He feels a wave of relief when Hythlodaeus leans toward him - There had always been a chance that he would wish to remain as they always had been, and stand by one another as friends. It being reciprocated makes it seem as though the world is suddenly brighter despite the diminished presence of the sun.

Even so, he keeps it slow and delicate, indulging in only a few light touches of their lips before coming to rest his head against Hythlodaeus. Emet then takes his hand and runs his fingers through his 'friends' bangs, tucking some unruly hair behind his ear in the process.

Smiling softly as Emet rests against him, he presses a kiss to his cheek. What can he say in this moment? Words fail him. All he knows is that he's happy, leaning into the touch. He still feels where Emet had pressed his lips to his own, the warmth lingering.

Eventually he hums, opening his eyes a fraction to gaze upon his friend's- no, more than that- face again. He wants to ask how long he'd wanted to do that for, but something in the kiss itself had said it was a long time coming.

Letting go of his end of the blanket, he uses his now free hand to cup Emet-Selch's cheek and run a thumb over his skin. At this point he's putty in his hands- he'd be willing to do almost anything Emet wanted to, right now. Rare is the day Hythlodaeus bends to Hades' will instead of the other way around, but what can he say? He's a romantic.

Emet says nothing for some time, content to rest where he is and bask in tenderness that's been long absent. Every brush of his face seems soothing in a way that is difficult to articulate.

These worlds seem ugly so often, so why does this moment feel as though that ugliness has melted away for a fleeting moment?

Words finally come, said in a low and affectionate tone. "Long have you been my friend, Hythlodaeus. The ways in which you've enriched my life - even saved it - are immeasurable." Even after being sacrificed, fragments of his soul allowed him to stave off the madness that grief threatened him with.

He takes their clasped hands and pulls them against his chest. "I hope that you will still remain as such after this night, but that I could be allowed to show you my devotion in a different way."

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