shadowbringers spoilers galore.

[exarchal]

Strange purple trees. A towering blue crystal spire. And a thriving community of people who have built additions to this tower, lived and loved and died to protect the beacon of hope for their world.

The ancients' wish has come true.

Welcome to the Crystarium.





[Here's an open post for all your spoilery ffxiv needs. Thread and cry as much as you need 👀]

Comments

[thaumewturge]

When you gave me this room, I was just a very lost cat, dear.

[Just saying.]

And I would have been just fine with a room at the inn, but you gave me a full apartment. For free.

[exarchal]

You were always more than that to me.

[But both could be true.]

I thought it might atone a little for the treatment you had received, not to mention the harm I had done in summoning you and the Scions so. Of course this would not make up for any of it and I had to keep my secrecy, yet I thought an olive branch might be in order.

[thaumewturge]

It did wonders for my mood, I assure you, though that does remind me to bother your craftsmen and find out how it is they make those light-blocking windows...

[Look, she keeps a diurnal schedule but she is a nocturnal creature at heart. Blackout windows would make her life so much easier.

Rhel finally takes a moment to look around the room, noting all the books with no small amount of delight.]

Is this where you slept before it all began?

[exarchal]

[He smiles a little at that.]

They would be able to enlighten you on the specifics, but I believe it has something to do with a reflective layer sewn in the middle. I had been curious myself seeing as the Crystal Tower has quite a bit of ambient light to contend with.

[He straightens up around the room, making room for someone else to also share the space. There's a desk with books, shelves upon shelves upon shelves from floor to ceiling with books, and smaller rooms leading off into a spacious bathroom. The bed is reasonably big too, though unmade. There are... more books on it... There's an armoire and a cabinet, and both are currently shut.]

Not... exactly, [he murmurs sheepishly.] When I slept for those centuries, it was less like sleep and more like stasis.

I was essentially a statue. I wanted to be near the entrance, so that when the doors were finally open, I would be able to feel the wind on my face...

[He got quite a rude awakening, though.]

I must apologize for the mess, as I had not expected guests. Are there enough blankets for you? Shall I fetch more?

[thaumewturge]

[Rhel almost doesn't hear his question as she looks around the room in awe at all the books. Books she hasn't read, books that probably have lost or forbidden lore, all sorts of books! Her tail is lashing in excitement.]

Oh, honestly, this feels about like home with all the books around...and I will never say no to blankets, it gets so cold here.

[But books! Excuse her, gonna go start poking around]

[exarchal]

[He smiles at her excitement. She's... so cute... ugh, his little old heart can't take it. Right, blankets-- he should grab those.]

I shall return shortly.

[He disappears into some other adjacent room. It's only a minute or two before he returns with a stack of fluffy fleecy blankets and pillows in tow. He deposits them on the bed, though he reserves at least one pillow and blanket for himself. Those he sets aside for now...]

Before I bring in the chaise, is there anything else I should retrieve?

[He isn't about to share a bed with a woman he has only just begun dating about twenty minutes ago, that's ridiculous, and the mere thought makes his ears flick backward.]

[thaumewturge]

[She is quite literally climbing one of the piles to get another book.]

The chaise? Why would you need to bring that in?

[exarchal]

[He... will just let her do that because he also does the same thing, whoops. HE'S 5'2" GIVE HIM A BREAK.

Also, please note the deer in headlights look.]

Uh-- that is--

[Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh why does he have to explain this...]

There... there is only one bed, Rhel, and I will not have you sleep on the floor. No, I think not. You shall take the bed and I the chaise, so you need not sleep alone.

[yep.]

[thaumewturge]

[. . .

Rhel turns from her perch on the books to give G'raha a Look over her glasses. It is her best "are you fucking kidding me" look, honed over many classes of neophytes at the guild.]

G'raha, that bed is plenty large enough for the two of us.

[exarchal]

[He has never blushed this hard in his life and he isn't even a virgin.]

Rhel? [He has entered the bargaining stage of grief.] Rhel. Rhel...

[Okay so he's a little unnerved by that look. It's certainly not the first time he's received it, though he has lived without it for a couple hundred years.]

We have only kissed naught but half a bell ago, and you insist I-- that I share your bed. Not that I am against such a thing in principle, of course, but I wonder at your intent.

The last thing I wish to do is something untoward, something... improper, with the wrong sort of assumptions.

[thaumewturge]

One, it is your bed. This is your room, after all. Two, my only intent is to enjoy sharing space with someone I care for in what must be...oh, years? Who isn't as a sibling to me.

[She and Alisaie had some girl nights when it was all going to hell.]