PSL/AU Ideas

[arroganceandangst]

Toss the prompt in your TL subject and we're off and away. :> 

His Home - A PSL Setting
(To update later.)

Modern Day XIV AU - For those I chat to on Discord, yes, this is Cat Trap.
FFXIV but modern day - magic is pretty restricted and requires a license to use, and magic is not as common as aether is not as abundant. Here everyone has some sort of mundane job in this mundane world. Aragibal is a sommelier for an upscale restaurant in the evening, and a personal trainer for a local gym during the day. He was married to a Moonkeeper Miqo'te woman, but had to get a divorce. Due to split custody he gets the kids, Ahweh'a and Xahqoh Nesfe, every other weekend. His general non-work aesthetic is sort of "California skateboard guy" and he definitely wears flip-flops and shorts in the winter.

This one is pretty open just to have some fun with. :)

Wildcard
Whatchu got! Throw it at me! >:O

Comments

[arroganceandangst]

Ara couldn't really express just how grateful he was to Atha for helping him in this moment. He gave her the slightest of nods - very careful about Xahqoh, and turned to Ahweh'a, crouching as he gently untangled Xahqoh from his hair and setting her down on the sand. "Let's go in and get some real food, yeah?" Ahweh'a was clearly very unsure about it all as he cautiously approached and essentially glued himself to Xahqoh's side. Aragibal managed to convince the kids to get inside. He removed his armor and got himself down to his gambeson before returning to the kits. He convinced Ahweh'a to sit at the counter because it would allow him to watch what Aragibal was doing and make sure Aragibal wasn't going to try anything funny, and he convinced Xahqoh to sit there because she could snack as he cooked if she wanted.

The kids scrambled up into the chairs at the bar and watched closely. Aragibal would warn them before he would get a knife to chop, and he would talk through what he was doing. He'd take a bite of something, then offer a piece to Ahweh'a and Xahqoh - Ahweh'a passed at first, but eventually followed Xahqoh's example in taking little pieces and nibbling on them. Most of these interactions as he cooked were him running on autopilot as it hit him how exhausted he was and he realized the weight of what they had just done. He had helped to raise Monx, sure, but that was different than this. She'd always been the favorite of them, and he'd always had to look for ways to make up for it - be it through their races, seeing who could climb a cliff faster, their sparring. The last thing he wanted to do was create some sort of disparity between these two kids that would mirror his own upbringing and...

Oh, Atha said something to him. He gave her a little nod, though he wasn't entirely certain what she'd just said. Ara had made something relatively simple and lacking his normal flair for a lot of spices and interesting flavors. He didn't want to shock the kids and make them sick, so the flavors were pretty light. It was pleasant enough, though perhaps just a little boring.

It was Ara's turn to be distant and unusually quiet, his eyes not focused on anything around him as he waded through the memories of Monx spending so much more time with their father than he. Atha would have to work a little to bring him down from the clouds, where he'd blink at her blankly. Whatever she just said he hadn't heard and he wasn't entirely certain what the next thing to do was. It looked like everyone had finished eating, so maybe she wanted him to do dishes? Maybe she wanted help putting the kittens down? The silence grew longer as he stared at her.

[provokedultimatum]

Shit. Ara was out of it too. What a bloody pair they made. Pair. Fuck, she shoves the many implications of that far, far down as she helps the kittens off of the stools, their tiny claws digging into her hands as she does so.

"Let's get you both to bed. You'll both share a room." She adds, spotting the way Anweh'a continues to glue himself to Xahqoh's side, before guiding them towards one of the bedrooms.

"The door will be open, come and find us if you need anything." Fists clenched, she forces the words out, "My mum died too but I had noone to help me. I won't let that happen to you two."

Kids settle she heads back into the kitchen, "Ara," She shakes him, "Sit the fuck down, we need to talk and you look like shit."

[arroganceandangst]

She decided to take kitten duty in this moment and Aragibal simply let that happen. Things still felt a bit far away and he still wasn't quite present. As they walked to a room Aragibal got up and picked up the dishes and went to the sink to start doing the dishes. He managed to get everything set down and just gripped the sides of the sink. He didn't notice as Athala came up behind him, and it wasn't until she shook him that he even registered she was there.

He looked to her and gave a small chuckle as she said he looked like shit. "We both do." He let go of the sink and (shakily) followed her to the living area, taking a moment to open the set of windows there so that the ocean breeze could enter and so the sound of the tide was easier to hear - hopefully it would make things a little more calm.

He sank into a chair, his body heavy as he spoke first - a habit that likely annoyed Atha. "Of all of the reckless decisions I've ever made, this certainly has the most repercussions." He took his hair down - something he very rarely did - and looked out the window with a frown. "I don't know what to do, Athala." He'd always run away from his problems, but he couldn't with this one: if he did he'd have to leave Atha, and he wasn't about to do that. There's enough of a pause for her to probably worry he was thinking of abandoning them. He spoke again, quiet enough so Athala could just hear him. "I don't want to give them up, but I don't know what to do."

In truth, this entire series of events was the first time he'd ever admitted to not knowing something. It was the first time he hadn't bothered trying to cover up that he had no clue how to handle this.

[provokedultimatum]

Bone tired. That was the only way Athala could describe the way she felt as she flopped gracelessly into the seat opposite Ara. The sort of tired that hurt all the way down to your core. Too tired to fluster, or rage, or raise her walls. Just exhaustion.

As Ara admits how out of his depth he feels Atha stares off into the middle distance, the arms of the chair creaking as she holds them in a white-knuckle grip. She had to explain to properly explain her feelings and she hated it.

"...Don't remember Mum's face. Don't even think I remember her voice half the time." Her breathing becomes a little harder as it starts to pour out. "Don't remember where our house was in Ala Mhigo...Don't know what happened to her body. The only proof of my mum I have is my hair colour and the glass beads."

[arroganceandangst]

Aragibal, for once, was quiet while Athala explained her feelings and what was going on. He was confronted with the acute understanding that he had no clue what it was like to live in Atha's shoes. What happened did offer some insight into the state she was in when he found her and why it seemed she lacked common sense in a number of areas.

As she finished Ara could feel his heart breaking. He knew this was one of those moments in his life he had to say something and he had to try to comfort her and he had to try, but he had no clue what to do. He couldn't relate to having a house because his tribe always moved, the dead were often buried with only the smallest of graves that were lost to time, and he had nothing from home because of how hastily he left. It was, of course, the terms at which he left compared to hers - he chose to leave, she was left.

He didn't try to touch her, but he did lean forward a little bit, looking to her meaningfully, his voice low and gentle.

"You are proof of your mom, not just your hair and the glass beads you wear." He hesitated for a moment, then continued, in a very small voice that was barely even a mumble. "I never met her, but I can't help but think she would be proud of you."

have a present, a sad sad present

[provokedultimatum]

It's a good job that Aragibal didn't try to touch Atha, her reaction would not have been passive in the slightest. Atha would have punctured the vulnerable atmosphere with a burst of anger. But her white-knuckle grip of the chair arms loosen and it almost looks like a trick of the light but her cheeks have regained some of their colour even if the hollow look in her eyes hasn't abated.

"...Thanks Ara..." Atha tilts her head back, the beads in her hair clinking as she stares at the ceiling unable to bring herself to look at the man playing witness to this moment of weakness, "'M glad I got out of Ala Mhigo. I don't ever want to go back, the place is rotten to the bloody core, everything out here is so much better."

:(((((

[arroganceandangst]

Oh, he was more than well aware of her proclivity towards anger in literally any situation. He felt an uneasy relief as her cheeks seemed to regain some color. It seemed like he was on the right track, but this was not close to done.

"We never have to go there if you don't want to." There was a melancholy in his expression and tone. He didn't like the idea of leaving things unfinished like this, but he also had no right to push her into facing it if she wasn't ready or didn't want to. She was such a flight risk when they met and he had worked so hard to cultivate a relationship where she would stop running at every moment... He didn't want to slide back to there because of this.

"We don't have to do anything or go anywhere that you don't want to." It was unspoken, but he also was implying that if she would prefer they find a family to give the kits to then he would respect that as well. He had been making a concerted effort to allow her to make the decisions for them, though he would give input if he disagreed or felt she wasn't seeing the whole picture.