#non-canon au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

modernmisadventures · 1 year

Text

Chapter 2: Reactions

It took three locks to get into Cirdan and Varrus’s apartment. This was on top of the secured access, the doorman-cum-guard dog in the lobby, and the keycard required to take the elevator all the way up to their floor. For Cirdan, it was just another day - for Varrus, it was something of another matter. He wondered if he’d ever get used to it.

But tonight, his head was too full of questions - and a pair of large, brown eyes - for him to do more than feel a momentary anxiousness at the procedure. As soon as the door swung shut at their backs and they entered the well-appointed sitting room of their apartment, he pounced. “So, that girl. Who was she?”

Cirdan didn’t answer immediately, making his way through the seating towards the kitchen. He slipped inside and moments later Varrus could hear the refrigerator open. “Come in here while I see if there’s anything to eat,” called the Au Ra.

"You just downed two drinks and an entire plate of nachos and you're still hungry?" Varrus couldn't help but shake his head with a snort - gods knew that man had a bottomless appetite, for more than just food. All the same, he settled himself onto a stool at the island, but refused to let his friend off so easily.

"You can talk and forage at the same time. So, what's the deal?"

“Ugh.” Cirdan bent down and stuck his head in the fridge, wondering for the thousandth time why he didn’t just get a side-by-side. “There’s shit all in here. I’m going to order in some Doman food. The usual?” Without waiting for the Elezen to respond, he slid his tomephone from his pocket and placed the order.

Varrus was almost certain he was stalling on purpose, and waited in impatient silence.

Finally, Cirdan tucked his phone in his pocket and sighed. “You heard her. Her name is Ciprys.” More silence, and he cursed. “We kind of grew up together. Her parents moved into our neighborhood when her mother was still pregnant, and I was about two. I don’t remember much, except my mother wasn’t very thrilled to have academic-types in her domain.” The Au Ra hardly had to explain more; though Varrus had never met his mother, he’d been treated to plenty of diatribes about her high-class - and high-maintenence - ways.

“Anyway,” he continued, slipping out of the kitchen and collapsing onto one of the overstuffed chairs, which creaked ominously beneath the weight of his plus-seven-feet frame, “her parents were also quite close to the Satrap of Radz-at-Han, so father couldn’t do anything about it without making more waves than he was willing to at the time. So they stayed, and mostly they stayed out of our way.”

He stared up the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts until Varrus pointedly cleared his throat. “I probably actually met her for the first time when she was six and I was eight. One of my father’s men was dressing me down; I’ve forgotten why, now.” He smiled. “It wasn’t important. It was summer, and hot, and I didn’t want to stand there on the sidewalk in front of her house getting chewed out because I’d done something any eight-year old would do. All of a sudden, she comes tearing out of the house, yelling at the man to stop being ‘such a bully’. You know how auri women are so tiny compared to the men?”

Varrus nodded.

“Well, they’re always that tiny. She’s six years old, all of three fulms nothing, and she comes tearing across her yard and plants herself right between me and… gods, I don’t even remember his name.” Cirdan’s smile is surprisingly tender, given his usually fierce demeanor. “And she proceeded to let him know how it’s not right to yell at a kid, and you shouldn’t pick on people smaller than you, and didn’t his mother raise him right to not throw a tantrum in public?

“The guy… Jaiko, I think - yeah. Jerky Jaiko. He drew himself up, affronted. I think he might have struck her, but I reached out and pulled her back, and if he’d hit her, he might have hit me. My father’s men, they could yell at me, especially if I was being stupid, but my father would have had their horns if they’d laid a hand on me.” Varrus wasn’t entirely certain that was simply a figure of speech. Cirdan had never exactly told him what he and his father did - but Varrus wasn’t entirely dense.

He just liked having plausible deniability.

Cirdan inhaled deeply. “Her mother comes streaking out of the house, pale with fear. I held up a hand to her - it was a gesture my father used all the time - and she stopped dead in her tracks. I very carefully told Jaiko that the little girl was right, that he was being rude, and that I expected to hear no more on this matter. It was the first time I’d ever stood up to one of my father’s men when they were picking on me. And damned if he didn’t turn as pale as Ciprys and draw himself up. ‘Yes, Master Cirdan’ he said - just as he often said to my father - and he turned and walked away.

“As he left, Ciprys pulled out of my hands,” Cirdan continued, his smile positively sloppy at this point, “turned around, and informed me that she was not ‘a little girl’. ‘I’m Ciprys Dreamweaver’, she said to me, very regally, ‘and you may thank me now.’. Gods,” he sighed. “She hasn’t changed a damn bit. Anyway. I thanked her, and she smiled and very politely told me I was welcome, then went to her mother, took her mother’s hand, and led her back into the house. We were fairly inseparable after that, for a very long time. Her parents hated it. My parents hated it. They learned very early on we didn’t give a damn and if they tried to keep us apart, we’d simply sneak out and meet up anyway. Then I had to go to Doma for a few years to serve in the Master’s household, and while I was gone, she went off to college. I figured that was the end of that. But she’s here,” he whispered. “And damned if I didn’t miss her.”

“So… Did you ever…?” Varrus let the word hang, his intent clear - it was evident just how much the woman meant to his friend. So much so that he couldn’t help if their reunion had been entirely coincidental. Cir had never spoken such words about any of his partners - and Varrus had had the misfortune of meeting a few in the early mornings after his buddy’s escapades, but they were always in and out, never the same each night; hells, he’d never even known any of their names, the rare occasions he did meet them.

So to hear Cir speak so happily, candidly about this Ciprys woman… Well, it was clear she was special. Beyond special.

Cirdan was quiet for a moment, mulling over the question. “No. No, we didn’t. She was sixteen when I left for Doma - and maybe she was willing, but I wasn’t. Not with her. I didn’t want - she wasn’t…” He trailed off, frowning, and this may have been the first time Varrus had ever seen him so uncertain. “I wasn’t going to do that to her - not when I was leaving and no idea when I’d be back, or what her life would be. So no. We never.” Then he smiled, slow and lazy. “But there’s always tomorrow, now that I know where she is.”

“You, with the same person, more than a single night? I’ll believe it when I see it,” Varrus snorted - though it was a bit of false bravado; there was little that would bring him more joy than seeing his best friend truly, truly happy with another.

Though he wasn’t exactly looking forward to the sounds that would be coming from the shared wall between their bedrooms.

“Well, come on, loverboy.” He plopped down onto the seat opposite the Au Ra. “Food’s gonna be here soon; what say we get a few rounds in? Winner gets the third egg roll.” With a smirk, he tossed the second controller to Cir, knowing he’d absolutely just lost himself a bet - a shame, really. He loved those egg rolls.

Unfortunately for him, so did Cir. And Cir had one advantage.

He cheats.

Ciprys didn’t quite slam the door shut behind her - but it was a near thing. Her mother’s voice was still ringing against her horns, but she blocked it out with the ease of long practice. It was all piss and wind; her mother had never had the fortitude to follow through on any of her threats. Not that Ciprys particularly tested that - she loved her mother and father, and she recognized that their overbearing nature came from anxiety about raising her so far away from kith and kin.

But she was twenty-one years old, by the gods, and she deserved to have her own damn life.

“I need a job,” she said to the air. “I need to stop racking up degrees and just get a damn job with them.”

Her parents would be surprised to find out that rather than being a dilettante who had been in school for nearly four years now with nothing to show for it that she’d actually managed to scrape up two degrees and was on the verge of a third. Refusing to walk or be announced by the school had simply been one more way of taking control of her own life. And since her grades had been exceptional - as expected - the U had been more than willing to indulge her, even against two of their more valuable professors.

But she didn’t want a job. Not one that had her tied to a desk, or a bar, or a building. She wanted to travel, she wanted to see places she’d only heard of, meet people she’d never known existed. She wanted to experience the world first-hand… and she wanted to capture it, she mused as her roaming eye fell upon the camera tucked on her dresser, through a lens, then share it with the rest of the world.

And her parents would never go for it. Without a means of support, that dream was just a dream - she’d known that the moment she’d fallen in love with photography and made it her second degree. They’d never let her out of the city - and if they knew how far away she wanted to go, they’d never let her out of the house. And without a job, she’d never have the means to break those gilded chains.

It all circled back. And why, she wondered, was she thinking of this now?

Jess. Something had changed between the moment she’d walked into the bar tonight, and the moment she’d walked out. She’d already started growing fond of the bartender - and a bit envious of her freedom, her freedom to work, to live away from her parents, to have a life that hadn’t been decided before she was born.

And now there was that other woman - the other Au Ra. The teacher. Someone living the life her parents had imagined for her and happy with it. More than anything, that had made it all hit home: she didn’t want that. She didn’t want the same thing, day after day. She didn’t want the papers, the students, the responsibility.

She wanted to spread her wings.

And if she could just find a degree of independence, it wouldn’t matter what her parents thought of Cir-

No.

Five years. Why hadn’t he told her he was back? How long had he been back? He’d never said anything in the texts, the emails, the little gifts he’d sent anonymously.

Why?

With a grunt, she flung herself on her bed and brooded at the moon rising outside her window. And did her best not to dream a dream of turquoise eyes and wide, spreading wings.

“Can I walk you home?”

“The answer is still no,” Kal’istae replied evenly, ignoring Thancred’s soft sound of disappointment. “I appreciate the invite to the bar, though. I enjoyed meeting your sister.”

Doing his best not to sulk - and how was that even a thing? - Thancred strode along at her side, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Scamp? She’s one of a kind. Minfilia’s more reserved, and Ryne’s more like a daughter, but Jess is exactly the kind of younger sister I wanted growing up.” The affection in his voice was real and rich, and Kal’istae had no doubt in her mind that he meant every word.

Kal’istae let her eyes drift up towards the stars above them, nearly drowned out from the lights of the city. “Is that why you do it?”

“One reason, perhaps,” Thancred replied, only half of his mind on the conversation. “There’s a lot more to it than just filling in the gaps, of course, and it’s mostly for their sakes, not mine - but I’d be lying if I said I got nothing out of it.”

Kal’istae tried to ignore the prick of her conscience, the whisper of her unconscious that suggested that perhaps saying yes, just this once, wouldn’t hurt. She was not interested in leading him on. She liked their relationship exactly where it was - non-existent with a side of friendship.

So why did you go to the bar with him?

Gritting her teeth, she shoved the errant thought away. “Here is where we part ways,” she said instead, indicating the entrance to the underground. “I’ll see you around, Thancred.”

If by around you mean next Wednesday when he inevitably swings by your classroom during his weekly visit to the school.

Well, of course. If he didn’t, she’d probably be very disappointed. Worried, even. Except when he’d had to go out of town, he’d come by every Wednesday like clockwork…

As the thought trailed off, she stared at him as he waited, gazing at her with a puzzled expression.

Oh hells.

“Good night, Thancred,” she said, just a bit faintly. “I’ll see you… I’ll see you.”

His smile was slow, and just a little smug. “Good night, Kali,” he replied, backing away. “I’ll see you Wednesday.”

Yes. Yes he would. And she would be waiting.

Oh. Hells.

#ffxiv #au: misadventures in modern eorzea #oc: varrus varlineau #oc: cirdan takeshi #oc: ciprys dreamweaver #oc: kal'istae miurani #npc: thancred waters #non-canon au #no sundering au #rp fanfiction #multiple authors #author: sasslett #author: ainyan

11 notes · View notes

modernmisadventures · 1 year

Text

Chapter 1: A Mass of Meetings

Ciprys pulled open the door to the small, well-lit pub and strode inside, already feeling the tension drain slowly from her back and shoulders. Until recently, she’d never been one to frequent bars, but she’d recently discovered this cozy little hole-in-the-wall and found the warm atmosphere soothing. Though there was a steady clientele, it mostly consisted of working locals tying one off before heading home to their families and suppers, or those self-same families enjoying a night out together.

Making her way through the tables, she approached the bar and settled down on one of the stools, leaning on the counter and peering at the bartender a little ways down. As the brown-haired hyur finished with her current customer, Ciprys waved her hand. “Hey, Jess!” she greeted with weary cheer.

Jess glanced up in surprise upon hearing her name - few there knew it, fewer still who remembered it. She smiled as she caught sight of the Au Ra woman, her newest regular, it seemed. Not that she was complaining, of course - the young woman was a welcome change to her usual, boring patronage.

“Good evening… Ciprys,” she greeted, thankful she’d managed to remember the woman’s name and praying she hadn’t noticed her brief pause. “Here for your usual?”

The words fell out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them - oh, gods, what was her usual?

Lavender-edged eyes sparkled with laughter as Ciprys slid onto a stool at the bar. “Gods, yes,” she replied fervently as she crossed her arms on the bar and laid her head upon them. “A screwdriver sounds absolutely perfect, thanks Jess.”

As the hyur moved to make her order, the Au Ra took the time to draw in several deep breaths. The last of her tension seemed to ease from her, the line of her shoulders softening, her tail coiling down amongst the legs of the stool and twitching gently. “Did you ever go to college?” she wondered as she lifted her head, resting her chin against her crossed arms, following the bartender’s movements with those bright, curious eyes.

“Me? Gods no.” Jess quickly shook her head - not that it wasn’t a thought that appealed to her. But, well… She knew her lot in life. The moment she’d turned eighteen was the moment she was officially on her own, booted out of the foster care system with not a single gil to her name. No, college had been entirely unobtainable - she was merely thankful her guardian angel of an older brother, so to speak, had lined her up with her newest job at the aptly named Bar.

And perhaps that was for the better… She found herself subtly glancing back over her shoulder at the cheat-sheet she kept taped beneath the bar as she reached for the alcohol on the shelf. A screwdriver was… orange juice and vodka, right? Was it… one onze or two?

It was a mercy Buscarron kept her around as long as he had - and perhaps a mercy she hadn’t killed anyone yet.

“What about you?” she asked, hoping the Au Ra hadn’t noticed her amateur slip-up.

Ciprys had other concerns - namely, the low-grade headache brewing behind her eyes. “Count your blessings,” she muttered. “Professors are sadistic bastards whose only delight comes in torturing poor students until their brains squeeze out of their horns.” She sighed, lifting her head and reaching out to take the glass as Jess offers it to her. “No, let’s be honest,” she sighed, sipping at the drink and smiling her approval, “it’s my own damn fault for changing my major again. But how the hell am I supposed to know what I want to do with myself? It all seems so fascinating until it’s not, then it’s boring and I have to find something else.”

She stared at her glass for a long, brooding moment, then abruptly drained it in several long gulps, gasping softly as she placed the empty glass back on the bar. “Woah. That goes to the head.” Coughing slightly against the burn of vodka and orange juice, she shook her head sharply, then relaxed into her stool, exhaling. “But hits the spot. Water, please, if you would?” Lavender eyes lifted to meet Jess’s, and she offered a sweet smile. “Sorry for bitching at you. How has your day been?”

“Trust me,” Jess snorted, turning to fill a glass from the tap, “if that’s the worst bitching I get in a day, I count myself lucky. You wouldn’t believe the kind of shit I hear - I don’t know when ‘bartender’ became synonymous with ‘therapist’ and ‘marriage counselor.’”

Sliding a glass to the Au Ra, she offered a sympathetic smile. “So, by that regard… I suppose my day hasn’t been that bad - but the night is still young.” Not that things typically got awful at the small, run-down tavern; they were far from the most popular haunt in the city, tucked away in the small, older building as they were. It was a rare eve when a newcomer popped their head in, and rarer still when they came by a second time.

Well, there was Ciprys, and she seemed more than content to warm her stool and nurse her water. “Drink makes a tongue loose, and you get the benefit,” she replied cheekily. “Plenty of bitching, sure, but I’ll bet you get all the juicy gossip, too.” She smirked. “Who’s sleeping with who, who’s pissed at their neighbor, who’s stepping out on the missus. All sorts of delightful secrets.”

As she spoke, the door swung open and in walked a second auri female, followed closely by a male hyur. Ciprys turned slightly on her stool, curious, but neither appeared to be anyone she recognized. The woman was even shorter than herself, with the dark scales of a Xaela, while the man topped her by over a head, and had a young face that in no way matched his thick mane of silver hair. “Bet they got a few good ones,” she murmured to Jess, grinning into her glass as she watched the pair approach the bar blatantly without shame.

Neither seemed to pay her any mind, the woman hopping up on a stool and the man hooking his foot around the leg of another, drawing it closer before sliding onto it and angling himself so his leg all but brushed hers. For all the flirtatiousness of his manner, however, she seemed to take no note of it, her eyes scanning the bottles thoughtfully. “Just… be gentle,” he was saying, his voice a rich baritone. “She’s still learning, but she’s getting the hang of it.” His gaze lingered briefly on his companion, then lifted to study Ciprys’s openly curious face. He smiled at her, then twisted on his stool to seek out the bartender.

“Thancred!” Jess gasped, an impossibly wide smile gracing her face as she caught sight of the man who was practically a brother, who’d watched over her as she’d been thrown around through the foster system - without him, she couldn’t rightly say where she would have ended up. She only just refrained from leaping over the counter to envelope him in a hug, instead settling her abundant energy by bouncing on her toes. “What brings you here tonight? It can’t be the drinks, I’m sure.”

Though, she supposed, the question was all-but-irrelevant, as her gaze settled upon his companion - a downright tiny, yet gorgeous Au Ra woman, situated on the barstool beside his, the two just far enough apart not to touch. Jess flashed her a grin; she’d quickly become aware of Thancred’s reputation as she’d gotten older, but never had he bothered to bring by one of his interests, preferring to keep his work and pleasure far apart. All of which told her this one must’ve been especially intriguing…

“What can I get for you two?”

Kal’istae watched, fascinated, at the way the bartender’s face lit up upon seeing her companion. Though she’d had plenty of opportunities to see Ryne and Thancred together, this was the first time she’d seen him with any of his other fosterlings. She looked sidelong at the hyur, intercepting his downward glance. “What, I can’t want to enjoy the fruits of your labor?” the man teased with a slight grin as he turned back to Jess. “Maybe I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

At his side, the tiny Au Ra scoffed softly. “‘You’ve already met Ryne and Minfilia’,” she said, her voice a deadly parody of the hyur’s deeper tones. “Now you have to meet Jess. If anyone will give you a good impression of me, it’s her.’” Indigo eyes edged in lavender limbal rings sparkled merrily at the bartender. “And I’ll assume you’re Jess.” She offered out one small, slim hand. “I’m Kal’istae Miurani, and I’ve heard a great deal more about you than I’ll presume you’ve heard about me.”

At her side, Thancred grinned, not even the least bit embarrassed to be ratted out. “She’s one of Ryne’s teachers,” he explained to Jess, “and she taught Minfilia as well, along with a few of the others, at the magic school.” Ignoring the Au Ra’s soft hiss - none of the teachers at the high school for magically-inclined students liked that nickname - he leaned on the bar and smiled winningly at his sister. “Help a guy out here, scamp.”

“And you would be correct.” With a smile, Jess gently took the woman’s hand, giving her a quick, formal shake. “I would hope you’ve heard only good things, but knowing Thancred…” She shot the man a mischeivous glance. “Granted, he knows I’ve got just as much dirt on him as he’s got on me - if he’s hoping I’ll be his wingman, he chose poorly.”

Not that that was exactly true - Thancred had been nothing but a guardian angel all throughout her life. Perhaps, she just found she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease him a bit, especially in the presence of someone he found important enough to introduce to his found family.

“Unless,” she added with a smirk, “you mean to say, Thancred, you’ve come to me for relationship advice - in which case you must be truly desperate.”

It was rare that Thancred’s siblings had a chance to astonish him; even rarer that they managed to embarrass him. Jess managed to do both in one single sentence. “I, uh…” Caught out, he could only stare at her for a long moment before laughing weakly. “No one said anything about a relationship, scamp,” he muttered, but the tips of his ears flushed to a pale dusky pink. “I just thought she’d get a kick out of you. You have a lot in common.”

Kal’istae considered needling the man further - but she felt his sister had already neatly poked some holes in that ego. “Given half of what I’ve heard, I have no doubt he’s right,” she told Jess as she drew her hand away. “And everything he said, if not good - painted a great picture of a strong woman. Not that I’d expect any less of one of his sisters,” she added with a smirk.

“Ha ha,” Thancred grumbled. “Whiskey, please. What do you want?” he asked Kal’istae, just a bit sourly. When she gave him a silent look, he exhaled sharply. “Sorry. What would you like to drink, Kali?”

Lavender-edged eyes warmed, just slightly, and she turned back to Jess. “I don’t suppose you know how to make Sex on a Beach, do you?” came the guileless request. At her side, Thancred closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

On the other side, Ciprys let out a loud bark of laughter. “I like you,” she declared to Kal’istae. “Give me one of those too,” she added to Jess, eyes twinkling.

A lot in common… Jess couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion. The woman sitting before her was gorgeous, elegant, her skin the shade of the midnight sky, her freckles painting constellations across her skin, her eyes a gorgeous lavender, horns adorned with delicate jewelry and chains. And Jess was… well, Jess. Ordinary. Plain. With not a onze of grace or dignity in her bones. Never had she so much as received even a second glance from someone who may have been interested in her - well, not from anyone sober, at least.

Yet, all the same, she gave a smile and a nod. “Of course I do,” she huffed indignantly, hoping the lie came across smoother than it sounded in her head. “Can’t say I have any firsthand experience, though - I hear the sand gets everywhere.”

Sex on the beach… Sex on the beach… She ducked beneath the counter, hoping she looked as though she was grabbing cocktail glasses as she quickly opened the cabinet door, her eyes scrolling down her cheat-sheet until she found the drink in question. Vodka, peach, cranberry, orange… She could do that. She was sure.

With what she prayed looked like practiced efficiency, she quickly assembled and poured the colorful drinks, popping in a tiny umbrella and a slice of orange to top it off - perhaps if it looked pretty, it would mask the… hopefully correct flavors?

“And here, Mr. Grumpypants.” Thancred’s order, at least, was simple - in no time she poured a glass of whiskey, placing a single cherry inside before passing it off.

Ciprys took a hold of her drink and lifted it, sipping it carefully. “Perfect,” she beamed at Jess. “And I assure you, from firsthand experience - the sand absolutely gets everywhere and it is never worth it. Stick to somewhere where the earth is stable. And there are no insects,” she added, with a faint frown.

Brooding into his whiskey, Thancred barely took note of what the lavender Au Ra was saying. He swirled his glass in his hand, watching the dark amber liquid spin and slosh amidst the ice cubes within. The single cherry was a spot of crimson amidst the gold and he reached in, plucking it out by the stem.

Slim indigo fingers nipped it from his, and he turned to watch Kal’istae slide it between her lips and neatly nip it from the stem. “You’re an awful, awful woman,” he told her as she laid the twig upon the bar next to his glass. She said nothing, only smiled, the cherry caught between her teeth for a brief moment before she swallowed it down. “What did I do to deserve that?”

“Merely be yourself,” she replied easily, sipping at her drink and humming in approval. “Very nice. Thancred tells me you’re into martial arts,” she remarked to Jess as she placed her glass back on the counter and cupped it loosely between her hands. “Any particular kind, or just whatever catches your fancy?”

Ciprys leaned over, eyes wide. “You fight? Like, with your hands? Or feet? Or weapons?” Rather than being appalled, as her delicate features and refined clothing might suggest, she seemed absolutely fascinated. “My parents would skin me if I tried.”

Jess wasn’t sure what made her laugh more - Ciprys’ comment about her parents, or the fact that it seemed Thancred had finally met his match, had finally found a woman who could handle his rogue-ish ways. Just as he deserved. Oh, she was in for an interesting night indeed…

At the least, Jess was glad to discuss a topic she actually had knowledge on for a change. “I do jiu-jitsu, so, all of the above? It’s a style from Doma - but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to throw a punch!” Gods knew she’d had to, once or twice, in her life. “I… suppose my parents never minded…”

It… wasn’t a lie, exactly, given that she’d never really been able to ask - but, wherever her parents were, she was sure they wouldn’t frown upon her following her dreams.

Her dreams that landed her clumsily making drinks in a tiny bar.

Once more, Thancred and Kali exchanged a look, but this time there was nothing of amusement in it. Thancred straightened, shaken out of his brooding, but before he could intervene, Ciprys was off with the bit between her teeth. “Jiu-jitsu?” she asked, dragging her tomephone out of the tiny purse hanging from her wrist. She lifted it and punched in the word into her browser, brow beetling as she studied the first several results. “Well, that seems absolutely fascinating! And you can do all that with your body? Huh! I’ll bet it really gets the blood moving,” she adds with a sly smile. “All that grabbing and holding. Fascinating!”

Kal’istae slipped into the conversation, leaning slightly to peer at the other Au Ra’s screen. Ciprys obligingly turned the phone so she could see it and the teacher pursed her lips. “Oh. That does look interesting,” she agreed. “A bit more contact than I’m used to.” When Ciprys made an interrogative noise, she smiled slightly. “The form I study is called Kalaripayattu, and it hails from Thavnair - Radz-at-Han to be exact.”

Ciprys snaps her fingers. “That I know! My parents are Hannish; I was born here, but they came over while mother was still with child. Do you just dance, or do you use the fan as well?”

Thancred let their conversation flow around him, angling himself to see Jess’s face and determine how the conversation was hitting her.

“Like your mother would let you within ten feet of a tessen,” sneered a voice from behind. Buried in the conversation, the door had swung open and shut again behind a pair of men - one a tall, slim Elezen with purple hair and the demeanor of a fish-out-of-water, the other a tall, built auri male with obsidian scales and smirking turquoise eyes locked on Ciprys.

Surprisingly, Ciprys’s lips curved in a coy smile and she spun almost lazily upon her stool to face the men, angling her head just so to peer up at the other Au Ra while still managing to appear to look down her nose. “Oh, Cirdan,” she cooed, “I didn’t know you were a fighting fan.” A double-entendre that probably fell flat to everyone else’s ears, it snapped in the male’s and he raised his eyebrows, then offered her a biting smile and just the slightest bow in response. She sparkled at him, then turned back to Kal’istae, clearly awaiting a response.

Mouth working silently for a moment, Kal’istae searched for the thread of the conversation, distracted by the two newcomers. “Ah - I do use the tessen,” she admitted. “I belong to the local dance troupe - we practice and perform on the weekends and sometimes in the evenings after work. Although I’ve never actually used them to fight; I’m not even sure what to do if it came to an actual fight.” Turning slightly to reinclude Jess in the conversation, she adds, “Which is considerably less than you can say, I know; I hope you’ll forgive me for being a dilettante,” she teased lightly.

A… dilettante? Jess blinked in confusion, not sure entirely what had just happened, with the sudden influx of visitors and entendres being thrown around. “Dancing sounds magical.” She gave a wistful grin. “Gods, how many times I wish I knew how to dance - if only I wasn’t born with the grace of an ox.”

Varrus found himself practically frozen in-place. Cir hadn’t mentioned anything about going to the bar to meet someone he knew when he’d dragged the Elezen reluctantly from their flat that evening. Varrus was, very much, not the sort to partake in bar crawls and drinking culture; his ideal night after work consisted of relaxing with a good game or shooting the shit with his flatmate. His friend, on the other hand, showed no issue thrusting himself into the already-established conversation occurring at the bar - and judging by his shit-eating grin, there was something… personal about his snarky comment to the female Au Ra. And so the Elezen merely stood in the back, waiting for his friend to… well, finish whatever it was he’d set out to do.

Thancred scoffed. “A chocobo, maybe,” he corrected Jess. “There’s nothing graceless about you, for all you’re built more for power and speed. I’ll bet you could learn if you wanted to.”

Kal’istae tsked at his own graceless manner. “Subtle,” she murmured to him, but had to agree. “But watching you handle the drinks, I don’t doubt he’s also right. If you’re ever curious, hit me up some evening your off, I’ll take you by the studio and let you see what we do. I’ll bet you’d be surprised how well you could pick it up.” Her eyes slid towards Ciprys. “And you,” she offered.

“This I’d pay to see,” Cirdan remarked as he slid into a nearby booth, gesturing for Varrus to join him. “Little Professor Ciprys, all dolled up for a right Thavnairian dance. Will you wear one of those little dresses that’s all veils and chains and nothing else but skin?”

Lavender eyes sparkled merrily. “And wouldn’t you enjoy that?” she asked sweetly. His grin only widened and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Forgive me, Jess,” she added, turning back to the bartender with a smile sliding from sly to soothing. “It seems it’s the night for unexpected reunions. This big lunk of an Au Ra is Cirdan. I grew up with him, but I didn’t know he was in this area now.”

Cirdan’s smile was serene as he turned it on Jess, Kal’istae, and Thancred. “Recently moved back; father has me taking over some of the business from him.” Ignoring Ciprys’s sudden frown and down-turned gaze, he continued. “Heard about this place from a neighbor. Got tired of this one,” and he jerked a thumb at Varrus, “kicking my ass in game, so dragged him out for a drink and ended up with a show as well. ‘Tis a pleasure.”

Thancred said nothing, letting the introductions wash over him, but his golden eyes did not echo the faintly polite smile on his lips, and he seemed a bit disconcerted by the presence of the male Au Ra - not enough to raise any concerns, but enough to keep an eye on him.

“A… pleasure,” Jess muttered, plastering on her best customer service smile - she was merely relieved the man had known Ciprys, rather than some manner of leech as his comments had implied. “Well, if you boys want something to drink, just holler.” So long as he kept his composure while drunk, that was. Jess was talented, just as Thancred had said, sure, but she didn’t exactly want to test her mettle against the seven-fulm-tall Au Ra, especially not with the way he carried himself - full of confidence, a strength to his step. His companion, for a mercy, seemed a fine sort, looking about as comfortable as one did in a chirurgeon’s waiting room.

“Tired of getting your ass kicked,” Varrus snorted, sliding into the booth across from his friend. “So, should we… order some drinks, or something? That’s what you come to a bar to do, right? Or are you just here to harass young women?” Yet he said it with a smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eye - he knew his friend well enough to know he’d never actually disrespect anyone, unless given a reason to. And he hadn’t exactly been wrong with his comments - Varrus was certain the Au Ra woman would look rather lovely in Thavnairian silks, though Au Ra had never been his personal preference.

Not that he really even knew what his preferences were…

Probably someone a bit browner, a bit taller, and just as cute. But what does Cirdan know? “Or something.” His eyes roam over the handles of the tap. “A pair of Lonely Limsans, please,” he added to Jess politely, indicating one of the ales on tap. “And a plate of nachos if the kitchen’s open.”

“Oh, nachos,” Ciprys echoed, turning to look pleadingly at Jess. “You guys have nachos? With everything on them?” More puppy-eyes.

Thancred and Kal’istae glanced sidelong at each other, and he gave his companion a crooked smile. “Cheese sticks for us,” the hyur said to his sister. “Kali has a preference for them.” The Au Ra looked briefly surprised, then her face once more softened as she smiled at the silver-haired man. “And have you eaten anything in the past few hours? You’re due a break, right - snag a plate for yourself, on me, and join us.” Too late for the after-work rush, too early for the dinner crowd - there was still time before the local families began to trickle in to enjoy an evening in the pub.

"Thancred!" Jess scolded with a mocking gasp. "You know I can't just take a break when there's customers who need attending to - you of all people know better than to slack off." A jest that held more truth than it let on - for there truly were few more devoted to their roles than Thancred, something she herself could testify to.

All the same, she popped into the back to relay the orders to the acting chef - if the Duskwight man who looked as though he should have retired thirty years ago could even be called that. The Bar didn't exactly produce food Jess could be proud of - Twelve knew she could do better blindfolded with both hands tied behind her back - but it wasn't her job, and nor did she care enough to do something about it. No, while she greatly appreciated the opportunity and stable employment… everyone involved knew it wasn't her passion.

Though as to what was her passion, she couldn't rightly say.

She hurried along, pouring the two ales from the tap - and counting her blessings the men hadn't also asked for cocktails - before running them out to the booth.

"And here you are. Your food will be out shortly, and if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." She shot the two men a polite grin, before sauntering back behind the counter, awaiting whatever customer service tasks the night still had in store.

"Why this one?" Varrus asked, his nose wrinkling as he took a whiff of the drink placed before him. But he was nothing if not polite - summoning his courage, he brought the glass to his lips, pushing past his disgust as he swallowed a sip. Drinking was… not exactly a past time of his, but he wasn't about to leave his best friend high and dry. And if Cir said it was good…

Well, suffice to say that he and Varrus didn't always have to agree on preferences. Hopefully the food was better… Especially since good company seemed out the window, seeing as his buddy was still intently focused on the Au Ra at the bar, as much as he tried to hide his quick glances and small smirks.

“What, we’re customers now?” Thancred asked teasingly as she returned from dropping off their orders. “I’m hurt. Just promise me you’ll take a break soon, scamp; don’t work yourself to death.” Pot, kettle.

Cirdan smirked at Varrus. “Because it’s not terrible, and I don’t think this place runs to proper Hingan beers or a nice warm sake.” He lifted his mug and sipped at the ale, nodding. “It’s not terrible,” he repeated, his eyes no longer on his roommate, but rather on the pale-scaled Au Ra still seated at the bar behind him. Poor Varrus.

Kal’istae watched Jess pop around and leaned her elbow on the table, resting her cheek against a fist. “I don’t think I could do what you do. I’d probably get annoyed too often and end up dumping beer on some poor guy’s head.”

Thancred raised an eyebrow. “Says the woman who spends eight hours a day beating the basics of white magery and summoning into young, rock-hard heads,” he drawled with a soft laugh, but his humor trickled away as he eyed his sister. “You haven’t been having any trouble with customers, have you?”

Ciprys ignored Cirdan’s constant glances as well as the conversation between the other three and instead turned on her stool again, peering at the ale in front of Varrus. “That doesn’t look good at all,” she complained. “Beer is so nasty. Like chocobo piss.”

Cirdan winced. “Do you talk to your mother with that mouth?” he asked her.

Her lavender-edged eyes shot up, laughed. “Of course not, she’d kill me. Why do you think I talk that way when she’s not around? Look, if you want a decent drink, you should try this.” She offered him her half-drained Sex on the Beach. “Just the right mix of sweet and tart, and a very subtle kick. Don’t let him fool you into thinking men only drink chocobo piss.”

“I’ve got to get my hands on a nice sake,” Cirdan grumped into his ale. “Then we’ll see what real people - men or otherwise - drink.”

"I… think I'll just grab my own drink, if it's all the same to you." With a polite nod, Varrus slid out of his seat, breathing a sigh of relief to be free from the tension between those two, whatever it was that was brewing between them, stronger than any alcohol in the pub - for better or worse. He made a mental note to ask Cir just what the deal was with the woman once they returned home, and why he'd never mentioned her before.

He made his way to the counter, content to wait for the bartender to finish her conversation as he leaned against the bartop. She really was quite gorgeous; he couldn't help but admire her, the way her brown eyes lit up as she laughed at whatever joke her friends had made, her long, dark hair cascading over her bare shoulders, donned in a deep red halter top and black skirt that-

With a shake of his head, he quickly broke himself from his stupor - gods knew she probably had plenty of lechers staring at her, and he didn't need to become one of them.

"Gods, I wish," Jess snorted at Kal'istae's comment. "Trust me, if this job wasn't literally my entire livelihood, there would be plenty of dunked pitchers and patrons leaving with black eyes - and you know that if I could cast magic there'd be a few fireballs lit under some asses as well. Not that it really gets bad, and when-"

She trailed off upon feeling a pair of eyes on her; glancing over her shoulder, she caught sight of the Elezen man staring at her, quickly meeting her gaze with a grin.

"Oh, sorry!" So enthralled had she been in chatting with her friend that she'd neglected her bartender duties. She hurried over to him. "Was there a problem with your drink?"

"It was, uh… fine."

She couldn't help but snort at his hesitation.

"But I was hoping you might have something a bit… sweeter?"

"Sweeter…" She eyed the man up and down, from his warm golden eyes to his long, purple hair, his sleeves rolled up, shirt unbuttoned just enough to tease his bare chest beneath - a fair sight more appealing to look at than most of her patrons. "I think I've got just the thing."

She didn't need a guide for his drink, as she reached into the fridge and pulled out the few ingredients, giving them a mix before sliding the man a glass.

"Here, this ought to do the trick."

She watched as he took a sip, a pleasant smile growing upon his face.

"It's perfect," he murmured, tilting his head. "What is it?"

"Strawberry lemonade," she snorted. "Better than anything else we serve here, I can assure you."

"It's just a shame it isn't nearly as sweet as you are."

She inhaled sharply at his words, but before she had the chance to retort, he took his leave with a nod and a smile.

It wasn't exactly a new line, nor a creative one - why, then, did she feel a blush creeping up her cheeks? Gods knew she'd heard it all and worse from her patrons on a daily basis - just because he had long ears and a smile to die for didn't mean he was any different.

She quickly shook her head, dragging her gaze from his retreating form and doing her best to suppress the flush on her face as she turned back to Thancred and his date.

"I- I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

Thancred eyed his sister keenly, then turned to study the Elezen as he sat there sipping at his lemonade. “I see I have my answer,” he replied neutrally. Kal’istae’s eyes narrowed as she glanced over at him, and she edged close enough to plant her elbow surreptitiously in his side. He grunted and dropped his gaze to her, affronted.

“Leave it be, Thancred,” she murmured, her lips barely moving. When his eyes narrowed, she leaned in closer yet, distracting him as she nestled against him. He inhaled deeply, his eyes never straying from her face. “She’s a big girl, and he seems like a nice guy.”

His hand slid up her back before he wrapped his arm around her waist, taking advantage of her nearness. She sighed, but didn’t pull away, content to let him put his moves on her if it kept him out of Jess’s business. “I can’t say the same for his companion - but I’ll let it go. For now.” After all, he had something far more preferable to keep a grip on at the moment. Kal’istae heard the words left unspoken and merely smiled, picking up her drink and sipping through the straw, seeming none too unwilling to be caught up in the pale-haired hyur’s embrace.

Ciprys paid no mind to the little drama unfolding beside her, too busy watching Cirdan while she delicately sucked at her drink through the straw. She said nothing, only watched him, a half-smile on her lips and an ineffable sadness lurking deep in her lavender eyes. As the food began to arrive, she reached down and began to absently nibble at her nachos.

Cirdan reclined on his bench, one arm draped along the back of it while he held his ale in the other, his turquoise eyes all but challenging the tiny auri girl. As Varrus returned to their table, his gaze finally broke from hers, sliding to the other man. “You go,” he said with a slow smile, toasting the Elezen with his ale jack. “She seems like a nice girl.” Smiling at the Elezen who delivered their plate of nachos, he scooped up a chip and bit in, licking the cheese from his thumb.

“Yeah… I-I mean, I just thought she deserved to hear something nice for a change…” Varrus responded absentmindedly, tossing a glance over his shoulder, meeting the Hyur’s eyes briefly one more time before they both quickly looked away. “I’m, uh, not sure I can say the same about the one who’s been eyeing you,” he murmured, lowering his voice. “I expect you to spill the details as soon as we’re back at the flat.”

Jess followed Thancred’s gaze, rolling her eyes as she caught him boring into the Elezen’s back. “Oh hush, Thancred,” she huffed. “If it pleases you to know, I’ve never even so much as held anyone’s hand. Let alone… well, other things, if you really want to know. I assure you, you have nothing to worry about - it’s me we’re talking about here.” At the very least, his companion seemed to distract him well enough - and good for him, too. After all he’d done, all he’d been through… he deserved a lover - not just a fling. Jess merely hoped the gorgeous Au Ra was, indeed, thinking the same.

“And,” she added, “I’d appreciate you not scaring off my customers - I need an income here, and if the Bar closes, I’ll be thrown out onto the streets again. You don’t want me crashing at your bachelor pad, I assure you.”

Cirdan was quiet for a long moment, nursing his ale. “When we get back,” he finally agreed, his voice low. His eyes flicked to Ciprys, who gave him a sweet smile, then turned back on her stool and placed her empty glass upon the counter.

“Jess, thank you, the drinks were absolutely lovely - but outdone by the company,” the lavender-skinned Au Ra told her as she dug in that tiny wrist-purse and came up with the appropriate amount of gil. “Here, if you’d like to finish off my nachos,” she offered to the boys, dumping the half-eaten plate on Varrus and Cirdan’s table. “I’ll be back soon, Jess, I promise.” Pausing in the door, the tiny fashion-plate whirled with a spin of skirts and a dimple flashes at

the corner of her mouth as she grinned at all them. “After tonight, I don’t think I could stay away!” Then she was out the door and it was swinging shut behind her, cutting off the soft bells of her laughter.

Bemused, Cirdan twisted in his seat to watch her go. For a brief moment, it almost seemed that he intended to dart after her - but instead he turned back and settled down into the embrace of the bench. Nudging their shared plate towards Varrus, he hooked his finger on the edge of Ciprys’s plate and dragged it to him, clearly intent on finishing them off. “Once we’re done,” he told his companion, “we’ll head back and see if I can’t win back some of my self-esteem from you.”

Thancred listened as he absently plucked up a cheese stick and bit into it. “We should probably get going soon, too,” he admitted to Kal’istae and made the mistake of looking down at her. She also had a cheese stick and was just biting into it. Her lavender-edged eyes met his, startled, and she dropped her hand. The melted cheese followed and she caught it with her forefinger, letting it stretch, long and dripping, between mouth and hand. They stared at each other across the short distance, and she could see his thoughts crowding his eyes.

And damn him, she was having exactly the same thoughts.

Hurriedly biting off the cheese, she wound it around her finger and cleared her mouth, coughing slightly. “Probably,” she agreed. “I still have work to grade and I need to finish prepping my lesson plans for tomorrow.” She eyed the half-cheese stick in her hand. “And find something more substantial if not quite as enjoyable to fill my belly.”

From the look on Thancred’s face, that was definitely not how he’d have preferred she spent her night. But all he did was smile lazily. “Well then. Finish your drink and your food, and we’ll let the scamp have a few minutes to compose herself before the dinner rush starts.” Those pale gold eyes slid towards the bartender.

"And I hope you two enjoy the rest of your evening," Jess snorted - the seductive cheese stick certainly hadn't escaped her attention, either. "I'm sure you can find something to fill you up, eh? And come back anytime!" She couldn't help the wistful smile that took over her face, her words holding a deeper meaning than she let on. For as thankful as she was for her job… it simply wasn't her. And damn if she didn't find herself lonely more nights than not.

But seeing her brother happy, after all he'd been through? Well, just maybe, it was all worth it.

Gods, she hoped it was worth it.

#ffxiv #au: misadventures in modern eorzea #oc: ciprys dreamweaver #oc: cirdan dreamreaver #oc: jess shepard #oc: varrus varlineau #oc: kal'istae miurani #npc: thancred waters #non-canon au #no sundering au #rp fanfiction #multiple authors #author: sasslett #author: ainyan

11 notes · View notes