open 🪶 the world owes me a debt, and i've come to collect.

[garudas]

Who: Benedikta Harman & you.
Status: Open.
Where: All around.
What: Oops, all MANTA stuff. And a not-date with Cid.
Warnings: FFXVI spoilers, foul language, suggestive content. The usual.



🗡️ i. bite-sized blessings

[Apparently, Benedikta's ears are looking quite delectable to one small, pink dragon today. This is why she hates Eltrut—half the time she comes here, no, a majority of the times she comes here, there is always something. A goose, a conning healer who sends her out to do his grocery shopping... Today, it is a small pink dragon that has bitten her ear and tries to do it again. She's attempted to swat it away, walk it off, but no matter how fast she moves, it follows her and nips at her, or finds joy in playing with her hair.

Fool her once, shame on her. Fool her twice—]

You little brat!

[—it's managed to grab at her hair, and it pulls, before swooping away from her grappling hands with a chirp, as if it thinks this is some sort of game!?

Someone please help this woman. Or this dragon. She has yet to hear all about how this thing is meant to be returned to Elah, so if you are looking for said pink dragon, here it is.]

🗡️ ii. a steamy winter heist

[It was the exorbitant prices that drew Benedikta to the job first. The black market was always open, and she was always willing. Call it doing someone else's dirty work, if it put a good sack of coin into her pocket, then who is she to complain? Besides, it's not as if stealing something off a ship in the dead of night was difficult—she's done it dozens of times before.

The fact that it was a special sort of tea was only a bonus, so of course she would pocket some for herself... Maybe a handful. Or maybe a whole crate if she could get away with it.

Now, that is the question, isn't it?]

༄ a. getting to the ship. [Perhaps it is your lucky night and Benedikta is feeling somewhat charitable. Charitable enough that she is willing to use anyone she finds as a decoy while she sneaks in to steal the goods. Of course, she isn't about to say as much, as she stands on the docks and stares out to the merchant ship coming into the shore, its lights blinking against the darkening sky.

She has her pipe between her teeth as she almost always does before a job like this, letting the smoke swirl on her tongue before letting it billow outward.]

So, that there is the ship? [She scoffs.] She is certainly impressive.

[As large as a rich, black-market-selling merchant's ship should be. Which is why she's agreed to a "two-person" job.]

༄ b. caught red-handed. [Or, maybe she wasn't feeling so charitable.

As if being caught matters all that much to her. She's in the middle of making off with a whole crate—and the last one, too; people have been busy—of these tea bags (there must be hundreds of them in here) when she hears footsteps coming. She hardly flinches, if at all, and stands there with it tucked haphazardly under her arm while she stares the other person down with a smile before she tosses her head back.

Yep. You saw right. A whole box.]

Sorry. As they say, the early bird and all. A shame you came all this way only to come out empty-handed, but try again another night.

[There may have been a threat underlining her voice somewhere.]

🗡️ iii. poke 'n prance

[Well, at the very least, being paired up with Benedikta for a challenge like this cannot get any better... or worse than this, depending on who you ask. Having a history of torturing others means that she knows exactly where to put the sword and how much pain it will inflict. After all, when fishing for information, it is best to poke and prod it out of someone, and you can't very well gain much from a dead person, now can you?

Which is why she walks up with her own sword in her hand with all the confidence and arrogance of a pretty peacock, her fingers caressing the sharp edge of her blade, from hilt all the way to its jagged tip.]

Now, pay close attention to where I stick you because we can only do this once. Perhaps twice, if you can withstand it.

[She smiles, so sweet and saccharine and sarcastic.]

So, consider this a valuable lesson.

🗡️ iv. coins of the crescent

[Well. What she thought would be a nice, peaceful ride out to this island to fetch some coins turned out to be... well, everything but. It had been fine for the most part, but as the island came into view through the fog, things had started to tip and tip and tip until everything went fucking tits up.

Not only did the crew start to howl and turn rabid, much like those stupid wolves she can hear in the distance, but so did the captain, and now the ship is wayward on the seas at the behest of the waves. Fortunately, she can use the winds to guide them true, but it will take a little more concentration than what she can afford as she drives her sword into the shoulder of one infected crew that lunges at her with what could only be thought of as a kitten's claws.

Don't worry, that won't kill him, but it will send him reeling to the ground wailing in pain, and she kicks him in the gut to quiet him.

Whoever might be standing near her, she will shout at them with no shortage of rage in her voice as she gives her sword a brandish, the blood spraying from her blade.]

Might anyone spare a moment to take care of them while I attempt to not crash this fucking ship!?

[Must she do everything!?]

🗡️ v. untitled goose bounty 2

[Well, this is certainly not what she was expecting to see when she arrived on Eltrut, or tried to. She'd heard sounds from above across the ship's deck first—the worried shouts of the crew and riftfarers alike. Benedikta had been enjoying the peaceful ride in her cabin aboard the Stormbringer, and had half a mind to ignore the noise and go right back to sleep...

...

Until she hears something else.

The loud, low, rumbling sound of a... honk?

Something visceral shatters through Benedikta's whole body then, forcing her to sit up when the flashbacks of those eight-headed geese attacked her not even a month ago. She rushes to her feet and then out the door, shoving people out of her way as she storms up to the deck where she beholds—]

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

[—an eight-headed(?) goose large enough that it could peck out Eltrut's eye.

Much, much larger than she recalls it being.

And she is pulled out of her reverie only by the sounds of magitech cannons being blasted off.]

I see it's come back for another taste.

🗡️ vi. wildcard

[None of these prompts work for you? Want to do something that isn't from the MANTA board? Feel free to hit up my plotting comment, or via plurk @ crystariums! I'm also around on the game discord, and PM works, too! Also open to texts/bottled messages!]

Comments

[ramuhs]

[Hanging her shawl and his hat on the provided hooks, he returns to sit next to her, a flick of his wrist to unbutton his suit jacket to loosen it as an arm immediately moves to rest against the backrest just behind her shoulders. However this time, he won't pull her in, instead taking on a more relaxed position...for now.]

In case we become interested in something else other than the performance.

[Said with a playful gleam in his eye.]

[garudas]

[Oh. She's a little surprised that he doesn't, but Benedikta brings no attention to it other than a look cast to his hand resting just behind her head.

Because he's said something far more interesting—]

And what's that? [She tosses her head back, her hair tumbling away from the sides of her face and her neck.] I did see some drinks back there, if that is what you mean.

[No, she knows perfectly well what he means, and there's a very not-so-subtle heat that sinks between her legs.]

[ramuhs]

[An amused grin as he knows what she's playing at, and he's silent for a moment before he just casually leans his head closer to hers, as if to just quietly murmur a mundane thing.]

Doubt it will be enough to quench that thirst.

[And even though he's not touching her, she'll feel a small thread of levin suddenly running down her shoulder and back.]

[garudas]

[She should have seen that coming, but when she feels that sharp tingle leap across her shoulder and over her back, sending a light vibration up and down her spine to meet those from his voice, she arches slightly with a shudder and a breathy laugh.]

Why don't you fetch me some water, then.

[And she gives his hand a swat, as if to tell him to behave. They are in public, after all, in a hall of thousands of people. Surely he wouldn't do anything so risky here?]

[ramuhs]

[A quiet chuckle as he doesn't move just yet, resisting the temptation to just fire another light jolt at her hand in retaliation.]

But I'm feeling quite comfortable right now.

[garudas]

Well. Then I guess no one is getting any thirsts quenched tonight.

[She sighs dramatically, and the lights have slowly begun to dim anyway, signaling to those still filtering in that the show is about to start soon.]

How unfortunate...

[ramuhs]

Or we just have to find another way.

[However, he continues to play nice and makes no further move just yet. Mostly because he's not sure if Benedikta would actually want to at least see what's going on first.]

[garudas]

[Well. She is a bit curious to what an opera like this might have. This isn't new to her—she has heard of them happening plenty in places like Sanbreque, but she's never been to one before. But with him sitting so close to her and that tingle still very much felt in her spine, it's harder to concentrate on what is in front of her rather than beside.

And when the lights finally do dim and there is applause from below—]

Be quiet, Cidolfus. I'm watching.

[There's just the slightest upward tick of her lip, and with a deep sigh, she keeps her gaze trained forward.]

[ramuhs]

[That just gets her a quiet chuckle, but fine, fine...

And so the play begins, with the customary introduction and the narrator setting up the story, a love story of two people who meet from two different worlds. What will be their fate as they endure the hardships and challenges brought to them? With those words, the music rises to a crescendo before the curtain rises and the first song already plays for the opening act.

Cid had read it was a romance story, a tale of two lovers who found love in a new world. However, it was always unknown when one may leave, so acting on blooming feelings of love is always difficult, which sets the stage for one of the conflicts of the opera. The other is when the man is sent back to his world, leaving the woman behind, until she, too, disappears. They reunite by chance in yet another world, yet only she remembers their time together.

It was clearly made with the situation of the riftfarers in mind, especially when the playwright was a riftfarer themselves. And... Well if Cid had to be honest, a bit convoluted. But it had high ratings with the performers carrying the story, so seemed at least worth seeing. Whether Benedikta would like it is a different matter, but...

Well.

His earlier words weren't empty ones.

But for now, he'll watch with her, curious to see how it all goes. And to their credit, the performers really were quite good, even in this simple opening act where nothing much was happening just yet. But at some point, his attention will be more focused on her as she'll be the one who interests him more.]

[garudas]

[Benedikta's face is mostly unreadable throughout as the show begins. Mostly because she is actually trying to focus on anything but him, whether it's the songs or the lights or the faceless people in the audience. His earlier words have clung to him like honey in the back of her throat, excessively sweet and overbearing. She keeps expecting that he will do something, and then the next part of the song begins, and then the next...

Really, the performers are quite incredible, she will give them that much, and the meaning of the story is not completely lost on her. It leaves her thinking of her own situation—their own, and of how it is not so different. Except that in their version, they do not get to meet again in another world. Or theirs. This is it. Unlike the woman this story is about, Benedikta does not think herself so fortunate.

The gods do not smile upon her like they do for them.

Her mind has begun to race, as does her heart in an effort to keep up, to stop her from thinking too much on those final thoughts... the ones of the man sitting next to her...

The man sitting next to her...

How long she'd been watching, Benedikta doesn't know, but as the thought of him occurs to her—as if it never left—she turns slowly to look at him, first through her hair as it drapes in front of her face, and then more fully, only to find him staring back at her.

She doesn't say anything, her own head too filled with thoughts to find words...

...

So, she just meets his eyes with a silent message. What she actually conveys, she doesn't know, but there are deeper emotions swirling someplace far, far beneath.

But before anything more could be seen or done, she tears her eyes away and focuses back on the man and woman on the stage again.]

[ramuhs]

[When he catches her gaze, his eyes widen subtly as he feels a something twinge in his chest. He knew she had been watching, but he couldn't clearly see what kind of expression she may have had. But to see that in her gaze, those emotions that render him unable to think clearly.

Was...

He glances back down at the stage, the two lovers together as the lyrics of the song, a duet, start to flow through, their voices clear.

You know I want you
It's not a secret I try to hide...

...Fuck.

He hadn't wanted draw parallels between this story and their own, and yet it's hard not to now. Not when she looks at him with that kind of gaze and his mind spinning as to why. To meet in another world, to find love in another world, no longer able to return to their own...

You claim it's not in the cards
And fate is pulling you miles away
And out of a reach from me

Without thinking, his hand has reached over to grab her chin, turning her face to him. Turns it so he can once again see into her eyes, his own reflecting something deeper and unknown even to him.

What if we rewrite the stars?

Turns it so he can pull her to him into a kiss.]

[garudas]

[It all comes crashing down around her in a single moment. In that moment when she feels his fingers tug at her chin, in that moment when their eyes meet... and as he pulls her in for that kiss, the sound of the music—the words, the voices, the meaning behind it all—fade into the background. Nothing but noise against the roar of her blood within her, the loud thundering of her heart in her ears to drown out everything else.

She doesn't wait to kiss him in return, that flood of emotions too much for her to bear that she needs someplace for them to go. She can feel them clawing at her insides to get out... Clawing and gnashing to go somewhere.

To go to him...

Just like she does because she can't help but want to.

But it's because of this flood of emotions that she pulls back. It all becomes too much too fast, and while she doesn't want to peach this and ruin it...

...

Her lashes flutter as she opens her eyes to look at him, a sigh leaving slightly parted, wet lips, and her finger traces down along his jaw, nail scraping his skin ever so gently. She doesn't say the word, but it's there, implied. She doesn't say it because she doesn't want him to go away completely...]

[ramuhs]

[He is very tempted to chase her back, and for a moment his head ducks closer to hers. However, he can see in her expression, feel the way her pulse races and the fact she pulled back...

Too much, probably. No, definitely. He had been too caught up in the moment, and he realizes that once more he rushed in when he shouldn't have. Though he supposes that she's still here is a positive sign.

So there's just a wistful look in his gaze, one he doesn't even realize himself before there's just smallest quirk of his lips, a very small, tiny smile of apology as the fingers that had been at her chin now gently cup her face. Just a brief moment, where his fingertips can brush over her skin, pull back her hair.

...

It really is difficult for him to not want to do more, but he holds back for her sake.]

[garudas]

[If it wasn't for the way that the meaning behind these songs had hit her, she might have been fine. Screw the opera, screw the performance, she would have said, but instead, she found herself enamoured and a little jealous. Wanting to know how the story ended, and angry at herself for feeling even the slightest inkling of hope...

What a dangerous thing that is.

But when she catches that apology in his smile, and right when she feels like he might pull back, her hand comes up to wrap around his wrist, keeping him firmly in place so that she can brush her cheek over the warmth of his fingertips.

A hint that she doesn't want him to leave.

She makes it that much more known when her hand wraps over his, slotting fingers through fingers, nearly perfect in their fit, and that's when she will lower it, bringing it to her lap as she inches just a little closer to him on the seat.]

[ramuhs]

[He catches that hint, and it does help to ease some of his worries. It can always be a bit hard to tell how far he went and how much he can do after. So his hand tightens over hers just a fraction, a little squeeze as if to say he understands before the arm behind her lowers to be more firmly around her shoulders to pull her just that little closer.

And he'll hold her like that as his gaze lingers on hers for a moment before he turns it back to the stage. Even if his mind is anywhere but there.]

[garudas]

[It's enough. That tighten of his fingers between hers is enough for her to understand what he is trying to say to hers. And she lets him pull her closer, a little sigh tumbling out of her when he does, and her head leans just slightly so that it can bump against his.

She knows that he's turned his eyes back to the stage, but Benedikta is looking at him again, only for a moment, watching to see if he'll look back before she follows suit.

Her voice is sudden, but quiet under the sound of the song... this song about fate and fighting it that she cannot bear to listen to right now... but it's just loud enough for him to hear in his ear.]

It's an interesting premise.

[That is to say... he feels it too, doesn't he?]

[ramuhs]

[And he will when he feels her gaze on him. Not immediately, wanting to let her think he hasn't noticed and so she can take in whatever it is she wants, before he turns his head slightly to meet her eyes. And then at her words, his fingers brush against hers before he hums a bit.]

To be honest, I thought it a bit convoluted. Meeting in one world only to need to find each other again in another on top of memory loss...too many complicated elements.

But.

[His hand then tightens over hers a little.]

It does strike something of a chord.

[One with their names on it.]

[garudas]

[He'll feel her nod in agreement, the lightest hum in response to his.

There's a pause, almost like she's going to leave it at that, while she listens to the words of the song.

All I want is to fly with you
All I want is to fall with you
So just give me all of you
It feels impossible

It's hard not to feel a little something bitter in her chest. Stories like this one are so whimsical, and she never liked whimsy. Never liked fairy tales if only because they were something that could never be. Always scorned those women who would titter over the newest book or play, always rolled her eyes at how they would swoon over the love stories. Hated love. Hated that they were stories about love. Hated that it gave people hope that they could find it.

Hated that she felt like she couldn't again.

And now here she is, feeling like she is caught up in one, and asking—]

How do you suppose it will end?

[ramuhs]

[He's quiet for a moment, as if to seriously consider her question along with the play. Even with operas and plays, a happy ending is actually not so common, with a tragedy just as likely. However...]

They are fighting against fate...which is a tall order. However...

[His head turns slightly more towards her.]

If they are able to meet again in another world, and so long as they have the will to work together... I think they can beat it.

[While his answer is for the play, it would be difficult to not catch the double meaning in them. Of the reflection of their own situation. Of his own endeavors to fight fate.]

[garudas]

[Oh, she does indeed catch that double meaning, and it is loud and clear. A double meaning answer for a double meaning question seems suitable in this case. And while she does not turn her own head to him, he might spot the slight twitch of her lip, a subtle smile ghosting over her lips before it's gone just as fast at what he has to say.

She really should be telling him no. Pushing him away. Protecting herself from the potential of being let down again...

But that draw is too strong, and while she tried so, so hard not to be weak to it, after all that's happened tonight, what else is she supposed to do? It has always been this way with them, even back then, and while they may have changed, there were some things that stubbornly stayed the same.]

You are too optimistic for your own good sometimes.

[In spite of that, and herself, Benedikta moves closer still, her leg slipping out from beneath her dress to bump her knee to his, and her free hand reaches up to thread through the one that rests at her shoulder.]

[ramuhs]

...Hm.

[A quiet, light hum as his own smile flickers over his lips as he watches her.]

So I've been told.

[An optimist. A dreamer. And while he is also very much a realist, sometimes the only way to keep moving is to have that hope. The only thing keeps pushing him is that desire to actually make it so.

And at her little nudge and feeling her hand on his...]

But sometimes...

[He leans his head just a little closer to hers. He's still facing outward, but his lips are quite close to her ear all the same, his voice that quiet, low rumble she so enjoys.]

...it's hard not to.

[garudas]

[Her fingers squeeze around his in a poor attempt to temper the shiver that runs from her ear down her neck and her spine. With how close they sit, she doesn't doubt that he feels it, but she goes on pretending anyway.]

Or it ends in tragedy.

[To balance his optimism, she has always been a realist. Perhaps too much of one for her own good, but when the gods give her little to work with, all that remains is what's right in front of her.

She leans close as well, but keeps her eyes fixed on the stage as the audience applauds, and the show continues on to the next song. Though, she's hardly listening to it now as she twirls her fingers between his, and he'll feel a light wind tickling the back of his hand. Subtle, but it's there, and then gone as swiftly as it had come.]

They cannot rely on fate to do all the work for them.

[ramuhs]

That's the thing, however. They're not.

[A wry look. Didn't you listen to him earlier?]

They fight against fate, fight against all that stands in their way. They push to make what seems impossible possible. And they do so because even if it could even end in tragedy...

[His thumb circles under her palm.]

It is better to try and try together than to let fate have its way otherwise. To not try is to let fate win.

And personally, I was never a fan of fate.

[As proven by how he went against the world until his dying breath.]

Even more so now.

[Those words come out a little quieter, his eyes now more on her.

She may be a realist, but she is also more of a pessimist, her world view too hurt and jaded to think of any hope and only thinking of the worst. In some ways rightfully so, but that is what also hinders her. Blinds her and makes her fear of it because of the hurt of it does not come to be. She has been burned and hurt so many times, it only makes sense for her to be so.

Unlike Cid who despite his own lifelong experiences will roll with his losses, accept them and build from it. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but he has learned to try and use that hurt to prevent it from happening again. Both a weakness and a strength. That is likely why he seems as an optimist and why he seems to be able to progress and take those steps forward despite the pain. Because to him, he has suffered and experienced enough losses that he's had enough, and he would rather take the chance and make the effort than roll over and let the worst have its way. Make his own choice and decision to do what he wants and think is right.

Benedikta and others may think him soft and kind because of his demeanor and actions, and they're not wrong. But he is only this way because he's had over forty long years to have seen more than most would. And even then he's still relatively young all things considered. Old enough to face hard truths, young enough to still bave the strength to try and change it.

In the end it's all cut short, but he cannot say he regrets going as far as he did. He only regrets not going farther and bringing her with him.]

[garudas]

Then... hope.

[She understands what he's saying, though... and she knows that neither of them is speaking about the characters in the story. They never were, to be honest. What she was asking was not about how their story ended, but how theirs might. Yes, she may be a pessimist and a realist, far too jaded now to see the world in any other light, to accept the hope that anyone might try to shine on her, but maybe that is why she had always clung so tightly to him. For where there is no hope for her to have, he could harbour enough to make up for them both. She remembers admiring him for that... once.

Now, she thinks it's all baseless. Not his words, but the idea of it altogether. One does not find anything simply by hoping for it. She had a long time ago, but it had thrown her into the abyss instead, and she was forced to climb and claw her way out of it.

So why do they make her heart flutter so?

She feels the touch of his thumb on her palm, warm and calloused, and she closes her fingers tighter around his, her head leaning just a bit further in his direction and her body following, her knee bumping again against his as her dress falls away from her leg.]

I suppose there is some fight left in them.

[And with a pensive look, she falls silent, her hand with his on her lap slipping out of his so that she can slide it over his knee, subtly, keeping her eyes turned to the stage to watch as the next song begins... though, whether she is listening or not...]

[ramuhs]

[It may be small, subtle, but also so very clear. And it makes him lean all that much closer to her until their heads lightly touch.]

Not just hope.

[His voice is quieter still, a low whisper against her ear that will drown out the music, the words, the applause, whatever may be happening on the stage below.]

Faith.

[Something to believe in.

His now free hand reaches for her own knee, sliding up slowly over the exposed skin.]

Strength of will.

[Slowly beneath the soft fabric as he turns just so so his lips now more firmly brush against her ear.]

...And a stubborn want and desire.

[To want something so much, so badly, that they would be willing to cast aside everything to achieve it. To become a villain to save the world.

Only now, he's done saving others. He just wants to save the one he couldn't before.]