hugtopia | text

There's a play on words here, but I'm a little bit too horrified to see it at the moment. Killer food. I'll keep a look out for it.

Don't be horrified by killer food. I'm sure you won't fall prey to it, hero of mine. Probably.

💏

Probably. Hey this means that the only thing that can defeat you is your own body.

Or yours. Very thoroughly. 😘

Era people can read this

We are Warriors of Light. I've more power than you, but you've more strength than me. I can defeat you with my magic, and you can defeat me with your body.

😘😘😘

Oh. I thought you meant something else.

Have you thought of using Holmgang?

Era!

[Then, several seconds later.]

It doesn't last for long enough to be satisfying.

[ He can probably hear the initial burst of giggles that erupt from her at that, though they quickly quiet down. ]

Long enough for a few Fell Cleaves 💏

[He can. Era can, in turn, hear him burst out laughing.]

If I tried that I'd probably regret it. Some things aren't meant for swinging!

You're supposed to swing with your hips, hero.

It'd bounce!

[Still laughing. Still on the thing from before.]

Bounce your lovely arse over here and give me a kiss. 😘 I am trapped by a cute feathery baby. 🐥

Edited 2020-08-10 23:52 (UTC)

Yes dear.

About ten seconds later, Ardbert appears at the door with a wide smile. "Trapped, you say?"

"By a cute feathery baby."

Era gestures toward Hythlo with her tail, hands holding her communicator above her head. The amaro chick is half the size of her by now, and has sprawled over her like a feathery blanket, dead asleep with his cute face pillowed between her breasts. She has the strength to lift him, but his size makes him unwieldy to her these days.

"Peki tired him out with flying practice."

If Ardbert glances out the windows to the garden he'll see Peki dozing by the hydrangeas; face tucked under one of his wings. A big, gloriously golden ball of feathers.

"...And Hythlo tired him out with flying practice, too."

Ardbert's expression turns soft and loving. It's directed at the both of them—and at Peki when he looks out the window. There's a touch of sadness as he looks out at Peki as he thinks of Seto, and Ardbert would much rather experience that emotion than hide away behind a smile.

He joins Era, sitting down slowly at her feet on the free couch cushion as to not wake their chick. Ardbert had been out and about earlier, but had sensed the stillness when he came back into the house. Nap time is something that every 'father' worthy of the title learns to sense. Young animals and children are quiet for three reasons only: fascination, nap time, or getting into things they shouldn't. Hence the text first; the laughter he only allowed himself because he knew that Hythlo would sleep through it from previous experience.

"I'm still amazed by how well they get along." Ardbert takes one of her feet and starts to massage it, talking a bit quieter now that he's close to the sleeping amaro. "But they're both good boys, so I shouldn't be, honestly."

Edited (so we don't break the laws of physics and cause an early heat death of the universe or something) 2020-08-13 01:46 (UTC)

She shuts her communicator down for the moment, tucking it away as Ardbert takes a seat. Her soulmate's expression went unnoticed, though Era knows well enough that her chocobo often makes him yearn for Seto. There is naught she can do for that save be there for him.

"Peki has always been protective." With her hands now free, she begins stroking her fingers gently down Hythlodaeus' snout. His every breath is warm against her skin; a soft, welcome reminder of the little life she hatched from an egg. "And my little egg overflows with love for everyone."

Era goes briefly stiff as he takes one of her feet, though Ardbert is aware that she's ticklish, and also knows just the right amount of pressure to make his touch feel wonderful rather than uncomfortable. She lets out a soft, contented sigh, shifting somewhat so that the positioning is more comfortable. Hythlo doesn't even stir at her subtle shuffling, so deeply asleep that a faint snoring can still be heard by a keen ear (or horn).

"You're too good to me," Era sighs again, reaching out to stroke Ardbert's leg fondly with her tail.

There is nothing that Ardbert can do but yearn for Seto and let Era be there for him.

"Peki is a true chocobo, and Hythlodaeus is a true amaro." His softened gaze trails up the chick's body until it reaches Era's eyes. "And I'm as good to you as you deserve. As we both deserve."

He continues applying pressure, searching for sore muscles. Somehow he finds a way to look at her even more fondly as her tail finds his leg.

Era blushes as he looks at her, offering a small smile in return before quickly looking away.

"For our wedding," she begins, voice cracking ever-so-slightly as she says 'wedding'. "I know brides oft obscure their faces with a veil. I was thinking that perhaps we could wear masks from our home, and hooded cloaks tied at the collar." Her phrasing leaves no doubt that she means Amaurot. "We can unfasten each other's cloaks to let them fall and reveal our ceremony clothes, then take off each other's masks..."

While they've discussed plans before, Era had never brought up any ceremony details—just the basic things, mostly focused around the reception.

"I know you feel it, too. The sadness and yearning in our soul for the home we once shared but never knew. I want to acknowledge it somehow."

Ardbert pauses his ministrations only until he realizes he's stopped. He's heard every word she's said, and he takes time to consider them properly. Era's suggestion means a shift in what he expected their wedding to be like, and it isn't a bad one, just one he has to consider with proper respect.

"I would like that. The yearning, the pain and sorrow—I feel it, too." He pauses, then adds quieter. "They should be remembered."

Which brings him to another thought. "Could we..." His brows furrow softly. "Could we acknowledge my friends somehow? Hades, too."

Because all of them should be there, and Hades should have been on the altar with the two of them.

His question catches her by surprise. Era looks up at him with brows furrowed in confusion.

"They will have their seats reserved, of course." She had assumed this a forgone conclusion. "And Hades' presence will be with us at the altar."

If Hythlodaeus hadn't been nuzzled up against where Hades' auracite lays between her breasts, she would have taken it off for Ardbert to hold. As it is, Era can only make a faint gesture at the general region it rests.

"A kiss to his auracite before we've our first kiss as husband and wife, if you're agreeable."

Ardbert doesn't stop massaging her foot as they talk, although he's nearly done with this one.

Having reserved seats for his friends makes him smile—he's ready enough to acknowledge them more publicly—but his smile grows a bit confused as she explains what she wants for Hades.

"If that's what you want, I'll do it," Ardbert feels it's a small thing for her to ask. "But I'll admit it'll feel a bit weird for me."

The furrow in his brows returns. "I never had the chance to fall in love with him, and the only time we really touched or kissed each other was on your birthday. You got to know him intimately. Having me kiss his auracite seems like it would cheapen what the two of you had. A-And I'm not sure if he'd be okay with me doing it."

Ardbert does grieve for him, but his grief is far less profound than Era's had been. It's given him a great awareness of how far the gulf was between his potential interest in loving Hades and Era's soul deep love for him. He can feel like he would have eventually loved him, but their time was cut too short. Which means he's forever the third wheel instead of part of a threesome.

There never really had been a good chance for Ardbert to say these sorts of things to Era after Hades left, but he knows he can't keep silent about if if they're to be getting married. Especially since he feels that she should have been marrying Hades first.

She frowns in thought as he speaks, listening closely while he expresses himself.

"It's your wedding, too. What I want doesn't matter in the face of your comfort."

But with that said...

"A kiss can mean many different things. When I press my lips to his auracite it may be akin to a lingering kiss of love, or it could be as a quick kiss of appreciation to the cheek."

Era gently runs her fingers down the slope of Hythlodaeus' head; fond, affectionate, and loving.

"...But whatever feelings you have, you could never cheapen what he and I felt for each other. And I can assure you he would be more than okay with a kiss to this morbid crystal of his."

Ardbert feels grateful for her.

"Gods, he would—he'd find this entire conversation hysterical." Ardbert looks down at her foot as his hands work. "... I guess I just don't know. How I feel about Hades, I mean." He smiles weakly. "That makes the decision quite a bit harder."

Only a moment of silence passes before he thinks of a way to explain it. "... Remember how you told me about asexuality? I don't have the right words, and it's not that. I don't know what to call it. But—"

His silence lasts for longer than a moment as he cuts himself off with a sigh and furrows his brows, not sure how to formulate thoughts of something he's tried not to think about too much after putting Era's grief before his own.

"... my mind and heart are jumbles when it comes to Hades."

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