#this really just makes me want to draw him and Estinien working together LOL

[fatedroses]

I have too much fun drawing him- he's just so unbelievably confused all the time, help him.

[klopford]

FFXIVWrite 2023 Prompt #6: Ring

(Yeah I'm totally not going to be able to do *all* of these prompts, but given that my WoL also practices goldsmithing, I got an idea ;) )

Also available on AO3!

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After the final meeting of the Scions in the Rising Stones, before everyone departed to go their separate ways, Katina requested that her friends follow her to the Solar, saying she had something to show them. On Minfilia's old desk were seven tiny boxes.

"What's all this?" Estinien asks.

Katina stands a bit nervously by the desk, facing the rest of the Scions. "Well," she starts, "I know we aren't really disbanding, just becoming more secretive, like the Scions used to be, but what kind of secret organization doesn't have a secret token of some kind? So, uh, this is actually something I've been working on for a while..." She picks up one of the boxes and opens it, revealing a gold ring set with a sapphire stone. The band has a wild rose design engraved along it, and visible underneath the stone is the emblem of the Scions.

"I made these for all of us," Katina explains, looking over the ring in the box before gesturing to Alphinaud. "I believe this one is yours."

The Scions watch in stunned silence as Alphinaud steps forward to accept the box. He examines the ring thoroughly with an expression of awe. "You made this?"

Katina nods, picking up another box and taking it to Alisaie. "Tataru isn't the only craftswoman here," she says, grinning. She continues handing out ring boxes to the rest as everyone examines their gift.

"It's beautiful, Katina, thank you!" Alisaie says.

G'raha looks over his ring and smiles when he sees the inside of the gold band. "You even engraved our names on them!"

Thancred, meanwhile, tries his ring on and is surprised to find it fits perfectly. "However did you know my ring size?" he asks with a slight chuckle.

"Ah about that..." Katina says, "I did say I've been working on this for a while. So... remember when you were all unconscious because your souls were in the First? I sort of took the opportunity to measure you all then." She rubs the back of her neck, looking nervous, as she watches the twins put their rings on and react with surprise as theirs fit perfectly as well. "I did have to guess for G'raha and Estinien though... so if you two need them resized I'm more than happy."

Y'shtola notices Katina's awkwardness and smiles at her. "This was incredibly thoughtful of you. I'm sure we will all cherish these gifts."

"Indeed," Urianger says. "You have my sincere gratitude for this lovely token. But, what of yourself? Thou art also a Scion..."

"Oh! I got that covered," Katina laughs, holding up her right hand to reveal she was already wearing a ring of the same design. "And I'm happy to craft some more for the rest of the Scions if they want one. In fact I was going to make rings for Krile and Tataru next. But with the eight of us having been through so much together... literally to the end of the universe... I'm sure you can understand I felt a bit of priority here." She rubs her eyes, trying to hide her emotions behind acting tired. "You all mean so much to me, and I'm sure I've already told you how I would not have been able to face Meteion without you, but it's the truth, and I don't think I can ever fully express my love and gratitude for you all. But, I hope these rings remind you of the trials we've faced together, and bond we all share."

Alisaie noticed Katina's voice starting to break, and steps forward to embrace her friend. "Thank you," she says, briefly glancing over at her brother and gesturing for him to join the hug. Alphinaud does so, followed by G'raha, and soon all of the Scions are in a big group hug surrounding the Warrior of Light. (Yes, even Estinien.)

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(An illustration of the ring design is coming as soon as I can get around to drawing it lol)

[girlbob-boypants]

Its your turn telling me Azure's thots on the scions! Also tell me if he misses Raha while they're apart and how does he deal with it. Azure like "day one of trying not to think about fucking my catboy" *sees something gross and/or bad* "relapsed"

Azure IS the thot of the scions actually

Answer to the Raha question: I miss him more than Azure does but that's because Azure is fucking BUSY whenever they're apart. Raha is such a piner tho I bet he just *sighs gayly* all the time. Azure does send letters though. Mostly to make sure Raha isn't going through withdrawal. It's been years of adventuring so Azure is pretty used to time apart but he's very big on "we have time together now let's make the most of it" which is why he and aymeric didn't work out cause aymeric is never not busy meanwhile raha would go to hell for a date

Now for the Big Stuff

Minfilia: I went from not a big fan of her to a complete stan and I'm adjusting Azure's feelings accordingly. He found her really weird at first with her "I hope you come to see us as family" line but he ends up really caring for her and appreciating how much she does for the Scions. Especially once SHB comes around and the Exarch is like "yeah all your companions fucking abandoned each other the moment their situation became slightly inconvenient to be together lol." Azure was like "this wouldn't happen if Minfilia was here." He also 100% goes "gods fucking dammit she was right about me seeing the scions as family" at some point. She went from weirdo to guiding light that's sorely missed in his eyes.

Alphinaud: Azure thought he was a bit of an overconfident ass in ARR, frankly. But he also knew Alph was just a kid, so he was quite protective. Azure was sort of Estinien 1.0 for Alphinaud. Quietly telling him to mind his manners. As time went on, Azure became very proud of how Alphinaud grew up. He'll always be a little brother and Azure is still firm to remind people that that's a kid (he's like...16-18 by ew since he's 14 in arr iirc).

Alisaie: Baby girl. Baby. Azure was fond of her determination and fierceness from the beginning in the Coils. He appreciates how she acts because she says what he's too reserved to quite often. Once they start talking in stb, Azure grows even more attached to her and is fiercly protective. I bring the twins everywhere for trusts because he care them. Ali is Azure's preferred sparring partner too. Both because he likes spending time with her and also cause he wants to make sure she's got a good way to get rid of any restless energy.

Y'shtola: When she clocked Merlwyb for breaking treaties with the beast tribes Azure got like. 100 approval for her. It's been uphill ever since. The two of them talk magic theory all the time and Azure gives her constant updates about Y'mhitra, and the same for Y'mhitra with updates about Shtola. Azure is DELIGHTED when Mhitra says she got an update from her sister. When Shtola talks about how broken Azure's soul looked in shb, it was the first time he'd ever felt...truly cared for. Or rather it was a very touching moment that he had to not cry about. They go from respected colleagues to science bffs and Azure's knowledge of aether is proving massively useful with the 6.1 stuff. Especially since Azure was exposed to the primal of dark aether and therefore should have some kind of latent aether to draw on for summonings.

Yda: Oh Yda. Azure was very amused by her "blonde bimbo" nature in ARR. He felt it made things easier (which i HC was her intent. She wanted to be the comic relief for everyone). Azure was never the strongest, so they couldn't spar much. But he respected her strength. The two of them mourned Papalymo together. After she revealed her real identity, Azure was supportive of her desire to help, but tried to become the voice of reason for her that Papalymo used to be. Reminding her that what's going on with Ala Mhigo is a *long* time of oppression etc etc.

Papalymo: God no offense papalymo but i foud him so boring until his death so sorry this isn't gonna be that deep i haven't thought about him in forever. Azure respected how practical he was. Understood that his practicality made for a good balance and helped guide the group to their goal, especially once it was revealed that Yda's sillyness was more of a ploy. He was thoroughly impressed at Papalymo's show of power when it came to Shinryu.

Thancred: Azure was shocked when Thancred was revealed as possessed by an ascian tbh. He seemed so cool, collected, and concerned. Which was Azure's opinion of Thancred until shb. The two of them have never been super close, but there's a lot of mutual respect that becomes...strained. In shb. Az wasn't afraid to chide Thancred for his treatment of Minifilia. But even so, Thancred wasn't afraid to express his desire to help Azure and in EW that becomes a way of rebonding. Fighting together was a big thing and there's sort of a silent communication and understanding between the two of them that surprises the other scions. It made Thancred tailing the trio in Garlemald much easier.

Urianger: Azure finds him baffling. And not even for the reason of "why do you talk like that." Azure just finds the way Urianger works to be slightly confusing to him. The secret keeping, the hidden emotions, the reliance on fortune telling and fate. But he knows Uri is capable and knows he's well intentioned. So they get along fine. Azure knows how to tell a well timed joke to keep Urianger from getting too...not pretentious but ya know. getting too Urianger.

Tataru: Ahhh the linchpin of the scions. Azure trusts her with almost anything (almost. She's still a money lala, after all). And she's a confidant of sorts. He'll talk to her about being tired and she's the only one who knows about his chronic pain aches as she sources his medicine. The two of them bond over arcanamancy when she tries to pick it up, but also bond over fashion. Definitely hc that the outfit she gives him pre shb is his sexy outfit, not the edgelord one, cause they'd talked about how he wants to be more fashionable. "I risk my life so often. What if I never get to dress pretty because I'm always wearing adventurer clothes?" He also teaches her traditional xaela recipes, mostly cause he brings her food and she asks about it.

Krile: Azure likes Krile a lot. They're echo buddies. I hc that Krile deals with a lot of ptsd post stb rescue and Azure helps a lot with that since they can talk about it or distract. He found her a bit confusing at first cause the jacket but she proves herself a professional furry so who cares really. He's *very* concerned for her in EW since SHB setup Hydaelyn as an uncertain morals. The two of them like to look out for the other scions together, since none of them can be trusted to take care of themselves.

Estinien: Azure doesn't canonically learn dragooning so they don't meet until the HW stuff. They butt heads some cause Azure finds the way he needles Ysayle frustrating, but he's also grateful for how Estinien cheers up Alphinaud. The two of them never become that close but they eventually grow into respected coworkers.

G'raha: Ah the catboy himself. Azure found him a silly little dude in CT. He was happy to escort him about and watch him nerd out and talk about it. Azure's good for the nerdy type cause he's quiet, good at listening, and asks a lot of followup questions. Azure was angry when G'raha said it was his fate to stay in the Tower. One of the first times anyone ever heard Azure swear. He called fate bullshit and told Raha to remember that he always wanted him to seize his own fate. Something that bites him in the ass in shb cause Raha remembered those words and became the protector of a dying world. And then dragged him into it. Their shb relationship is down and up. Azure put the fear in fearboner for the Exarch at the start. Very much showing Raha just how much he's changed from all the hardships he had to experience while Raha was asleep in the Tower. But they'd both changed. Both grown as people. And when they finally get to sit down in Kholusia, both battered and weary from their lives as heroes, there's an understanding. Raha might be the only one who understands just how hard it is to be the one everyone looks up to or vilifies. As I said before, Raha confesses just before turning to crystal in 5.3. And it takes Azure a while to actually talk to Raha about what he said, since those memories aren't in the crystal that fuses with tower Raha. But they eventually talk it out and it leads to a very sweet moment in Sharlayan.

I...feel like I didn't answer these quite right and it instead became rambles but yeah. I hope you enjoy. Azure's closest with the twins, Yshtola, Raha, and Tataru, but gets along with everyone. He'd murder for literally all of them by ew.