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

[Her eyes narrow playfully at him.]

I was asking you what sort of punishment you think would fit such a crime?

[She takes a bigger bite of her food this time.]

Oh is that what you meant.

[He thought she meant the idea in general.]

You sure you should be asking the "criminal"? Might just consider something that would work in my favor.

[And now he needs his two hands again to cut his pancakes and sausage, so a slow removal as he leans back to start working on his plate again.]

[Honestly... anything that she could offer as "punishment" would work in his favour... Who are either of them kidding?]

Not so honourable a man as you'd like people to think, are you?

[Hah. If people knew how not-so-honourable their captain was when it came to certain matters...

She takes up the sausage and presses it slowly between her lips, nibbling on it and humming thoughtfully, her eyes flitting to his briefly.]

I might just have to go for seconds.

[Just a languid shrug.]

You say that as if I try.

[Please, they know he's more of a rogue.

And he sees what she's doing there.]

Enjoy them that much, hm?

[She pops the end of it out from between her lips and feigns a dramatic, disappointed sigh.]

... I've had better.

And how were those?

Mm. It was good enough that I'd definitely dip in for seconds.

[Are they still talking about food or...?]

Let's hope your patience holds out until I finish these ones, though.

[Definitely not talking about the food and he knows it. Otherwise he'd feign more offense because he made these just for her.

So there's a quirk of his lips.]

I think I can manage. Though now I wonder how your patience will hold—!?

[And just as he's about to tease her in return, there is SUDDENLY CAT in his lap, surprising him enough that when he suddenly sits back the table shakes a bit and he almost drops his fork.]

Ashtail? What are you doing you little grub—

[Just a very indignant meeeoooowr as she stands on his lap, looking up at him before gazing over the table at Benedikta.

And then promptly curling up right there on his lap. Purring.]

...

[Benedikta glares right back at the cat. Excuse you cat, they were having a moment? And now he gets to have the last word!? How very rude?]

Mind your manners.

[And she is just as indignant as she stabs her pancake with her fork—]

So much for dessert.

[—and shoves the bite into her mouth.]

[Well. It's clear who won that challenge—]

Jealous, are we?

[Smirk before he continues eating, his other hand automatically petting Ashtail which will only elicit even louder purrs.]

[No one won? Because the cat jumped up onto his lap and interrupted them??]

Yes. She is.

[Stupid purring cat. That is her spot.]

Edited 2024-02-04 05:09 (UTC)

[And yet someone's patience is gone—

There's a small laugh at that.]

You're probably not wrong.

[And he's looking over at her with a very amused shine in his eyes, because he still finds them so similar.]

I'll be sure to make it up to you.

[She eyes them across the table as her fork pokes idly at what's left of her sausage.]

What are you looking at me like that for?

Nothing.

[So not nothing, but he just hides his grin behind his mug as he sips his coffee before resuming eating.]

[Another suspicious look...

...

...before she drops it with a sigh.

And she'll go back to eating her food silently for a while, trying not to pout while she does. They had been having as good a time as ever, certainly leagues better than they had in a while, and it's ruined by that unruly cat of his.

The silence that now traps itself between them is a bit overbearing, and so Benedikta lets her thoughts wander while she finishes up the last bites of her pancakes. It's a dangerous thing, letting them do that, because they go back to the night before when she'd rather keep them in the present.

And it will be with a more distant, somber expression that she pokes at that very last piece of her food—a slice of peach on her plate.]

[It's not until a few minutes in does he realize that she is truly feeling...disappointed? Depressed? Sad? About the sudden disruption, and he watches her for a moment, a slight frown forming. He hadn't minded Ashtail coming in, mostly because he's used to her doing so when he's eating or sitting around somewhere, and he can more or less ignore her presence. But it seems that Benedikta isn't the same...

Hmmmm.

After watching her for a little longer, he sets down his fork, gives Ashtail one last little scratch on her chin, and sets her down. Much to the cat's indignation, but Cid will ignore her for now and look back up to Benedikta.]

All right, what's on your mind, love. Were you really bothered just now?

[His voice immediately draws her back from where she'd been, not having even realized that he had set Ashtail on the floor until she no longer sees her in his lap.]

Well, yes.

[That answer comes swiftly, that bit of frustration edging her voice, but it's gone just as quick as it had come.]

... I was just thinking about last night again is all. On the ship.

[He's going to have to work on getting them bond—

But for now, he'll focus on the latter point.]

What about it?

[Well, there's plenty about it that she still wishes she could say... but how much of it would send them spiralling back into everything they had to work through last night?

But there is one small detail that has been bothering her.]

... Do you really think that I couldn't have protected her?

[...Ah.

He studies her for a moment before he idly taps his fingers against the edge of the table.]

Depends on what you're trying to protect her from.

[Her voice remains as quiet as her expression.]

What else is there to protect her from? Should he be desperate enough, he will snuff her out on Eltrut regardless of how well she hides. Unless someone finds him first.

And that is why I said that instead of taking her, leave her with the Paladins and focus on finding the man.

But—

[She tries to stem that fury that builds in her chest. Not with Cid, but with the situation as a whole. She knows, however, that if she lets it get the better of her, she will only end up taking it out on him, and hells... she is trying her damnest not to. Not after the revelations they went through last night.

She sighs, but it sounds more like a growl.]

If it's true and he is on Nogard, then... I suppose it's a matter of time before someone does.

[...

She glances up at him.]

But what if there are more out there like her?

[He can tell she's holding back, and he knows this is difficult. So he reaches out to take her hand once more, his thumb brushing against hers.]

Is that something you'd like to do? Find and help young girls who could be in the same situation?

[Strangely enough, the gesture grounds her, and her fingers curl around his hand.]

I don't know.

[She doesn't mean for her voice to sound so sharp.

Her? Helping people? Those words don't belong in the same sentence, and she feels that awful skin-crawling sensation again that shoots up and down her spine.]

I don't like the thought of... men like him running around. Or there being others like him out there.

[Others who would use women... or anyone... as a tool.

The furrow in her brow deepens, and though her voice starts to rise, her hand squeezes his as if to let him know that it isn't because of him that it is.]

She could hardly defend herself. And what if others are not so lucky or wealthy enough to hire the protection of the Paladins?

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