closed ⚡🪶 and forevermore, i'll be chasing the storm we had.

[garudas]

Who: Benedikta Harman & Cidolfus Telamon.
Status: Closed.
Where: Cid's workshop, Avaleci.
What: Cid is sad about his daughter being gone and Benedikta is horrible at being comforting. Also adventures later!
Warnings: it's cid and benna 🙂 also ffxvi spoilers, if you can find them.

ice skating, hot springs ♨️
volcano, egis 🔥
the price of freedom 🧵

Comments

[ramuhs]

[...Again, cute, and it he can only smile a little softly as he stares down at her.]

And a bit more well rested. But looks like you could have used some rest, as well.

[And he'll finish moving her over, setting her down on the bed.]

[garudas]

[As soon as he sets her down, she sits all the way up, grumbling in objection.]

No... I don't need anymore...

[She didn't need any to begin with, but ugh, the fact that she let her guard down enough that she had fallen asleep is annoying in itself. Not to mention this horrible crick in her neck? It has her grunting in pain, a hand rushing up to rub the back of it for a moment before it drops to her side.]

I shouldn't stay.

[ramuhs]

[There's a moment where he watches her, that hesitation. Ask her to stay or let her go—he almost knows which one she would take if he gave her the chance.]

And...

[Another pause before he just tries to play it off a little more playfully.]

If I said you should stay?

[garudas]

[The hardness in her expression eases just a bit, making way for more sleepiness and some hesitation of her own, and Benedikta finds herself leaning instinctively towards him, seeking without saying.]

... Are you telling me to stay, Cidolfus?

[She still needs him to be direct with her. That he won't yell at her again for simply trying to take care of him in whatever way she knows how. Which, in fairness, isn't much, but she tried.]

[ramuhs]

[His tongue rolls around his mouth, as if he's contemplating, debating, warring with himself. He shouldn't bother her, shouldn't burden her, just handle this on his own...

But it's clear he's been handling it poorly, and if he were honest, while the company of others have been welcomed and helped a bit, it's hers that he seeks the most right now.]

...Aye, I am.

[He finally looks at her more directly.]

Stay with me.

[garudas]

[In her heart, she knows that she probably shouldn't. If there's anyone who might only make things worse, it would be her, simply by virtue of who she is and what she represents in his life. Love and loss and then more loss. If she were him, she wouldn't want her around either.

But she couldn't bring herself to leave earlier, and she can't bring herself to leave now, and his words and that look on his face keeps her rooted where she is. Draws her to him...]

I don't like this...

[Her voice may sound harsh, and so may the way her hand reaches up to run along his face, but she doesn't mean to just draw attention to his haggard, tired appearance, and he should know that. He should know by now that the things she says aren't always exactly what she means, and that there is more to it, always. Despite all that time alone with her thoughts, she still hasn't found the right way to tell him what she really feels, or gathered up the courage to just come out and say the truth.]

[ramuhs]

[And this time he does understand, his gaze softening before his eyes close briefly to focus on her touch even if it may not be the gentlest. Because he knows this is her way, and any way at all can mean more coming from her.]

I look that terrible, eh?

[A wry grin as he reopens his eyes to look at her.]

Mind helping me then?

[garudas]

[She meets his grin with a look that lacks it. A serious, almost hesitant look.]

And you won't get upset with me this time?

[Does he really even mean it? Or is he just saying it to make her feel better?]

[ramuhs]

I won't.

[A slight look of resignation.]

I really didn't mean it back there... I'm sorry.

[garudas]

[She loosens up a bit, relaxing her shoulders and her expression, though she's not feeling like she can go to him just yet, an invisible line being drawn across the bed between the two of them until she can be sure...]

What did you mean then, Cidolfus?

[Her way of telling him to talk to her. She may not be a good listener, she may be impatient and unsympathetic, but that didn't ever mean that she wasn't at least a little concerned for him. It makes her angry that she can't do more than that, and angry that he won't...]

[ramuhs]

[A sigh as he crouches down, falling back on his heels.]

I don't know—I was tired, frustrated, and wasn't thinking clearly.

[garudas]

[There's a press of her lips together and then more silence as she shifts on the bed, moving closer to where he's crouched at the edge of it. She moves so that she's sitting in front of him, legs coming down to rest on either side of his body.]

Clearly.

[She has no empty platitudes to offer him. No words of wisdom or to console him... but what she does have are her actions, and while it isn't much, she fumbles for his hands and takes them loosely in hers.]

Then let us get you cleaned up. And then maybe get you out of this dingy, wretched little place.

[ramuhs]

[He looks at her a little surprised, but even if she might feel inadequate, it's true that even these little gestures, her just trying mean quite a bit. Makes him feel a strange but welcoming ripple of warmth when she tries to take his hands.

It's sweet, really. And there will be a quiet little smile as he looks at her, his hands helping hers as he threads his fingers between hers and gives her a gentle, understanding squeeze.]

It's not that dingy or wretched.

[A light quip as he starts to stand, grimacing a bit. Oof, it's these times when he can start to feel his age a bit...]

[garudas]

[If he keeps looking at her like that, then she truly will flee... That smile is far too gentle, far too sweet that she feels it claw its way right into her heart.

But she's just going to remain on the bed where she is until he pulls her up by her hands.]

It is dingy and wretched. Especially when you have been holed up in here for days.

[ramuhs]

Just needs a bit of airing out, that's all.

[And a stretch—oh that was definitely a crack of his bones before he starts making his way out the bedroom, Benedikta in tow.]

[garudas]

You need a bit of airing out, I think.

[And as she stands up, hands still holding his, she makes a face at the sound of his bones cracking. She'll follow him, allowing herself to be pulled along, and when he steps out into the workshop proper, he'll see that it's been tidied up, too. Papers and books stacked neatly, any dust that might have been left behind wiped and swept away, his ash trays cleaned out with a fresh cigar perched there and waiting to be lit. All in all, it's much cleaner and organized than it was before he went to sleep...]

I'd started to wonder when I didn't get message after message from you about this new island.

[ramuhs]

[He does pause a bit when he see the workshop cleaned up and organized, staring a bit in wonder before he turns to look back at her.]

....Ah, right, that happened, didn't it.

[He barely noticed. Once Nogard decided to move, it wasn't really a bad time for him to just hole up in his workshop. But while he heard things in the few times he stepped out... He otherwise paid little attention.

Yeah, that would seem strange to anyone who was familiar with him.]

[garudas]

[She's dragging him to the bathroom now, before he can make a point about the way she'd cleaned up the workshop. She'd rather not talk about that part, so off they go. And everything will be tidy in there, too, though she did leave out the straight razor and the shaving cream that she found in the cabinet, as well as a fresh cloth and towel.]

It did.

[She finally answers as she perches herself up on the edge of the sink.]

You've really heard nothing about it?

[Imagine her surprise when she finds out something before he does—]

[ramuhs]

I heard some of it, but was in a bit of a rush to continue working to pay much more attention.

[Again just going to glance around...]

Something about some kind of migration and retreat? Mountain lodge?

[garudas]

[She arches a brow—rush to continue work, huh?—as she gives his hand a firm tug, pulling him right to her so that she can trap him with her legs around his, ankles locking behind his knees so he can't move away.]

A volcano... and mountain both.

[And she dislikes very much where Nogard decided to rest. It's only a matter of time before that heat starts to sink into this place.

There's a very pointed pause while she spreads a little bit of shaving cream into her palm before she adds...]

Hot springs.

[ramuhs]

[Whoa—

All right, he hadn't expected her to not only pull him but also lock him in place with her legs like this, and he can't help but arch a brow given the... Positioning. But he won't push back—]

Volcano, you say? Thought it was strangely warm.

[—instead just bracing his hands against the counter on either side of her as be leans in closer.]

And hot springs, too?

[garudas]

[He really shouldn't be so shocked about this anymore. This is how it's been, and this is how it's going to be, with Benedikta taking charge of his "taking care of himself". Meanwhile, she's going to be nonchalant, even as he leans in closer to her, rubbing her palms together before spreading a light layer of cream over his cheeks and down to his chin, massaging it in.]

Yes. Hot springs.

[Her brow arches, but she never once looks him straight in his eyes.]

Was half expecting you to send my device into a fuss with it.

[There might be some light disappointment that he didn't...]

[ramuhs]

[...Oh?

While finding her touch both oddly stimulating and soothing in some sense, he can't help quirk his lip a bit.]

Expecting... Or hoping for an invitation?

[garudas]

[There's a light clap of her hand against his cheek as she smothers more of the cream on it, but that was definitely on purpose, a silent warning to him.]

Neither. Simply an ask of whether or not I had plans on going.

[So, an invitation.

But she doesn't say it, and pretends to ignore it as she leans back to observe her work. Good enough, she thinks, and so she takes out the razor, running it along its leather sheath first before bringing it up to his face.]

In case you are wondering, I don't.

[She makes her first stroke, light and careful and practiced from their days in Waloed...]

[ramuhs]

[The eye on that side closes in response to the light slap, but it also just made that smile deepen a little before it drops down to something more casual and relaxed.]

Really?

[And now she has that razor in her hand, he knows he should probably careful on what he says, let alone not talk much otherwise he really will get a cut.

But—]

And if did want to try them out with you?