Crystal Exarch

🌼

crowned (or just starstruck)
#grahatia

((Clearly your digital son got his good looks from you ♥️ ))

((🫂))

Few men could come through a war to liberate their homeland without scars on body and soul both, and he was not surprised to see that Hien himself bore some.

(Mental scars as well likely, but he was not one to presume.)

"Forgive me. I did not mean to disturb you. Shall I return another time?"

He usually went to great pains to ensure that others would not see him like this. However, he'd lost track of time in the bath and forgot that T'asir would be arriving just as he was starting to dress.

Though he had not been unblemished before coming to the First, it was the crystal that replaced the flesh where wounds had been that truly drove home just how much of him had been lost. Without robes to hide it as he changed clothes, the advance of crystal devouring his body was obvious.

It was one thing to know academically that Amelia had been through more than her share of harrowing battles. It was another thing entirely to see them first hand.

He hesitated, setting aside the tray of food he had brought to her, eyes tracing the scars. "Do they still pain you?" He asked softly.

His whole body relaxed as her fingers scratched at the base of his ear, a low purr rumbling to life in his chest. Clearly the idea of her staying with him all night was a wonderful, comforting one.

((I know how that feels, and it's definitely the brain weasels talking. I know I for one would be terribly sad to see you go.))

((Snagged and reposted - it's the last night of my vacation, tomorrow I head back home so let's have fun!))

((Go for it! Raha deserves unabashedly smutty fun!))

He giggled, a most rare sound to hear come from the aged Exarch's lips. "You shouldn't say that, Asir." He said, voice a little lilting and sing-song. "I'll ask you to stay with me."

>That is quite remarkable, Urianger!
>Though I am not surprised they would befriend you.
>You are very charming and a pleasure to talk to, after all.
>But do be careful of the wine. It really does pack quite a punch.
>Or... so I'm told.

He looked down at himself, then up at her, silent for a moment. "I forgot. It's hard to remember when I don't feel much anymore. But I feel this. And it's nice."

His eyes cracked open just a sliver before falling closed once more as he settled to curl up closer against her. "Thank you. I fear I may impose upon you rather often then. So long as it is not burdensome to you."

The message that came afterwards was simply a pair of hands, one crystalline and one not, making the shape of a heart, and a baby amaro chick sticking its head into the heart-shaped opening.

I would normally say an adventure with you, getting to see the world once more at your side. But... I fear that may very well be beyond me at this point. I can scarce leave the Tower without weakening. So instead, I think I would like to spend a day with you, hearing of your many adventures."

"You will lose me, yes. But there is the me who sleeps in the Tower back on the Source, the one who has not experienced all of this, who is awaiting you to wake him." He smiled softly and bowed his head, their question making him think for a moment.

"Anything at all? Hmm... that requires thought.

He looks up as she bursts into the room,his eyes wide and tear-filled as his hands are wrapped around something unseen.

"I-I'm touching it, but I can't see it!" He cried despondently. However, his face was shadowed and his ears were likewise invisible - a sure sign of his glamour being active.

[msg] I do remember, yes.
[msg] That event was a bit difficult to forget.
[msg] Nonetheless I am grateful for your apology.
[msg] And what of all that happened after the shooting? Do you regret that as well?

He smiled, looking up at her as she draped her jacket over him. "Too scratchy. Left them downstairs. But it's alright now." Looking down at his crystalline arm, his smile faded to a slight pout. "I look half frozen already. What would the difference be?"

It was rare to hear the Exarch giggle, and even more rare to see him in such an undignified state. "I wish it was. I haven't felt rain on my skin in decades."

He sat up as she approached, his tail laying across his lap and his legs swinging idly. "Or snow." He sighed dreamily. "I miss snow."

many days in which I feel the trust placed in me by those that made this all possible was misplaced. But you are alive. The other Scions are alive. The world - all of our worlds - will continue on. It is enough for me. It has to be."

There was a moment of hesitation, an ache that he could not banish even now at the sight of the wetness at the corners of their eyes. "It falls upon me, my failings and shortcomings, that I could not think of a way to save you and spare you this pain as well. A better man could have. There are

Small as he was compared to Xande, it was unsurprising that several of him could have fit easily on the grand seat. Curled up on his side, the crystal and flesh both were on full display save for his tail preserving (perhaps accidentally) his modesty as he reached out to her with a smile.

the thought that you would... you would miss me and remember me fondly is..."

His voice trailed off, not even sure of his words. "I didn't feel I deserved to be mourned by you. I fear I could no more make you happy with my presence than I could with my absence. You... you deserve better."

It both ached and soothed to hear those words, even as he felt ashamed for being glad to know that he would have been missed, his absence felt. "I wouldn't have ever wanted to cause you pain. I thought you would hate me for betraying you. You would be glad to see me gone. Selfish as I am though,

His outward calm was only belied by the faint twitch of his fingers and the momentary silence that greeted those words. "Of all people, I would trust you to understand my rationale, my methodology. I must have been quite foolish indeed to have even you express such concern for me."

There was a faint tingle to the crystal so close to his heart, where his aether pooled within him. He closed his eyes and allowed himself a small smile. "Every ilm of it. Every moment. You are here. You are safe. The future - my past - will never come to be. It was worth every bit of it."