Chapter Text
Try as he might, Erenville cannot get her out of his head.
His ears twitch lightly as he thinks about Alycea; the way her mismatched eyes glimmer with adoration for the star, the way she is as unwilling to stay in one place for long as he is, the way she is (justifiably) confident if not borderline cocky about her own capabilities – in general, but particularly as a white mage. A disciple praised for its healing potential, yet she can wreak destruction just as easily and elegantly with the same flick of a wrist.
A multi-faceted woman, that one, to be sure.
He finds his thoughts drifting to the choice of dress she had adopted ever since she had first gone to Shaaloani with him. “ A countermeasure to the desert heat, ” she had simply told him and he left it at that for lack of interest in a debate, but he questions the effectiveness of the leather jacket and straps made of the same material that make up her chest piece. Her short skirt and boots are more believable in this regard, but no less distracting to the now-former gleaner.
Wuk Lamat, noticing now that her friend stopped paying attention to her a little while ago, elbows him gently, “Whatcha thinking ‘bout?”
Erenville, as is characteristic of him, hums noncomittedly in answer.
“Nothing in particular,” he says curtly, and the Hrothgar shrugs, “If you say so...”
A moment of silence passes before the Vow of Resolve speaks again, her lips tugging into a knowing grin, “Say, why don’t you go check on Alycea? I’m sure she would appreciate both the company and the reminder to take a break that doesn’t involve traveling the world to save all the parts of it she can. And since I just remembered I have something important to do...”
Her tail swishes a little behind her in amusement as the Viera sighs, narrows his eyes, and then nods in resignation after a moment, “One could argue this is just as important of a matter but since it seems it cannot be helped, I’ll go.”
He turns on his heels and heads down the many steps to Bayside Bevy, and Wuk Lamat watches him leave until she no longer can, and retreats back into the palace to find Koana and Krile.
Erenville, meanwhile, has made his way down to the markets (with no small thanks owed to his long legs) and scours them for the Raen adventurer.
Though perhaps, he muses to himself, the simple term of adventurer stopped doing her justice long before he first knew her.
He hears her sweet voice before he sees her, his leporine ears and skills as a gleaner both allowing him to pick it out among Tuliyollal’s bustling crowd with ease – he follows the sound, finding the lilac haired woman exchanging coin for gear; botany, by the look of it. Curious.
Just as he is about to place his hand on her shoulder to not startle her completely, she turns to leave the merchant’s stall and nearly collides with Erenville’s chest before taking a surprised step backwards when she catches herself.
“Erenville!” She trills as she stuffs her spoils into her seemingly bottom- and weightless pack, and the man cannot resist a smile at the casualness she greets him with, “Did Lamaty’i forget about the linkpearl and send you to fetch me for something?”
Her head tilts in question while she motions him to walk with her, and Erenville notices for the first time the way the light seems to interact with her horns – like it would with bone, perhaps? He might have to investigate this further--
The Viera shakes his head, both to rid himself of those thoughts and to answer the mage’s question, “No such thing, she simply wanted me to remind you that you’re on official vacation and to take it easy – by a normal person’s definition, to be clear.”
The statement earns him a giggle, “Quite rich coming from you, you can’t stay idle for long either~! Note taken though.”
A pout flashes across Erenville’s face, and he stops walking, “...I will pretend I didn’t hear that. Since my task here is done, though, and I am apparently so restless, I’ll just-”
An almost electric shock passes through him when the Au Ra woman, with an elegance and grace he has come to expect from her, wraps her scaled tail around his thigh and effectively stops him.
“Are you sure that you’ve fulfilled your task? Knowing Lamaty’i, she definitely told you to keep me company for a while, and you’re not the type to let her down despite all your complaining...”
The somehow both expectant and shit-eating nature of the expression on her face is not lost on him as he groans in defeat, “Fine. What is it you want to do?”
Alycea bites back the cheeky ‘you’ lying at the tip of her tongue – she doesn’t want to fluster the poor man into oblivion, after all. Instead, she releases her hold on him and hums, “Nothing I would like more than to spend some relaxation time in my cabin with my dear friend Erenville. I trust you’re not opposed?”
The Rava feels a strange shiver race down his spine at the way she describes him for some reason, but he manages to conceal it with a faux annoyed, “Not at all. Lead the way,” as she takes his hand in her smaller one.
And lead Alycea does, as she has become wont to do over the years. All it takes is a quick, acknowledged nod and glance to Peshekwa in passing for the hyuran woman to know the Dawnbringer and her company are not to be disturbed outside of world-ending emergencies – of which there have been embarrassingly many in her lifetime, the white mage realizes absentmindedly.
She closes her cabin’s double doors behind Erenville and lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding while she unceremoniously throws her belongings on the ground and kicks off her boots to the side – effectively making her a couple ilms shorter than she appeared before.
Erenville, having seemingly found his proverbial footing, raises a teasing eyebrow at her, “My, and here I had the impression a hero as famed as you would be more composed behind closed doors.”
The woman in question gives him an entirely unamused look while she loosely ties up the back part of her hair, “You would do the same if you had the weight of the world – of multiple worlds – on your shoulders.”
Erenville’s smile drops a little at the same time his heavy gleaner coat falls on one of the dining chairs next to him, “My apologies, I meant no offense...”
Alycea laughs, to his surprise, and shakes her head dismissively while her jacket finds home on a coat hanger, “None taken. I just get a little... defensive , when questioned like that. I still like your teasing.”
With the ease of a woman truly entirely unbothered, she saunters over to sun herself on the lounger so generously provided on each cabin’s balcony. The pair falls into a comfortable silence for a while, then, while the warrior of light dozes comfortably in the sun and Erenville – his own boots discarded by now as well, settles on the close-by rattan sofa to go through some of his notes.
It’s when the sun slowly but surely starts creeping down to kiss the horizon in a breathtaking sunset that the Rava looks up, one of his ears twitching curiously when his golden gaze finds Alycea.
He can’t quite tell her state of consciousness given the hiddenness of her face in her arms, but if her shallow breathing is to be believed, she has indeed dozed off into the land of dreams – but he has enough sense to not wake someone as skilled as her abruptly.
Instead, Erenville’s feet tap quietly across the wooden deck as he steps closer to her and crouches next to her. He spots a strand of hair that has become loose, and in brushing it back, his fingers ghost over the scales that run down her neck.
Even he can’t react fast enough to what comes next – her entire body stiffens, and she turns to twist his arm against his back. Her breath hitches and her eyes widen when she realizes who the man groaning in mild pain in her hold is, and she lets him go with an apologetic whine.
“I’m so sorry, the self-protective instinct took over before I noticed...” She sounds so guilty that she may cry, Erenville notes silently to himself as he gives a small dismissive chuckle, “Please do not worry about it, it serves to remind me who I’ve entrusted my safety to.”
The Raen’s shoulders relax, and she immediately casts a gentle healing spell to fix the damage she had done – and the ex-gleaner gives her an appreciative thumbs-up in response.
Later, as they sit next to each other on the deck and dangle their legs while they watch the sky, Erenville can no longer control his curiosity.
“I have to say though,” he starts carefully, acutely aware that the woman was trained (if rusty) in both martial and the dancer’s arts and could tear him to pieces in record time if she so wished, “I had no idea Au Ra scales were this sensitive. Or is that just you, friend?”
To his mild amusement, a blush begins to colour what parts of her cheeks aren’t covered in either freckles or more scales. “I’ve never really had the chance to research it much,” she admits after a beat, “but I believe it to be a rather common thing. Only specific spots prompt such strong reactions, and well, for me the neck is one of them. As you know.”
“That I do,” Erenville laughs and then notes the way Alycea shifts on the spot, leaning closer with the look of a man intrigued, “I would love to know what kind of reactions exactly you’re talking about.”
The white mage sputters and loses her balance, finding herself with her back touching the floor and blinking up at a thoroughly amused Viera – not to mention painfully aware of how promiscuous she must appear beneath him, with the redness dusting her cheeks and distinct lack of decent clothing.
“Well~?” Comes the question again, and she has half a mind to equip a ninja’s soulstone and simply disappear. Or make him disappear. But she doesn’t do either of these.
Instead, she speaks.
“W-well... that particular one tends to act as an erogenous zone... ‘Tis why I like keeping my hair long enough to cover it.”
Alycea mentally curses herself for acting like such a damsel, but she can’t help it with the way Erenville’s golden eyes seem to pierce every part of her and pin her down without as much as a single touch. She might as well not be wearing anything at all with how intently he is staring.
Then, a gasp, when his hand finds one of her chest harness’ leather straps and fiddles with it.
“Erogenous, you say... I would like to conduct a bit of an experiment, assuming I have your explicit consent?”
Alycea wants to both slap him and kiss him stupid, how dare he say something like that in this sultry voice of his?
“Fury preserve me and grant me strength...” She mutters under her breath, then, louder, “Erenville. I want you. Have wanted you, actually, for a time now.”
It’s then she throws caution, and courtesy, to the wind, “ Fucking kiss me already. ”
Erenville’s eyes barely have the time to widen before she pulls him down and, rather roughly and unceremoniously, into a kiss. A kiss that leaves her downright whimpering as she clutches onto his shirt’s collar desperately, a kiss that leaves his cock twitching and hardening in his pants – her lacking state of dress certainly not withstanding.
He huffs breathlessly when he finally manages to separate himself from her delicious, full lips for a moment, “You’re an insistent one, aren’t you? It seems I have no choice but to do exactly as my lady desires.”
She keens, “Gods, please- please call me that again.”
“My lady?” Erenville purrs, an eyebrow raised in clearly visible amusement as nothing more than a strained moan escapes her in answer, before he sits back on his haunches and lifts her into his arms with a both surprising and arousing ease. “Where would you have me carry out my experiment , hm~?”
Words seem to leave her, her mouth dry as she speaks, “Bed, now, please. Wearing too much.”
He laughs but nonetheless obliges, lifting carefully to his feet and carrying Alycea to the bed, where she wriggles out of her skirt and he tugs off his shirt in the time it takes him to crawl over her and cage her in once more.
Gods , his cock twitched once more, his lips kissing down her chest while he undoes her harness with deft fingers, has she always been this much smaller than me? And has that fact always been so... provoking?
“Please, Erenville,” she begs, her voice a whisper as he pushes the garment off and away, “I need you.”
A low growl rumbles in his chest in response, a sound that notably has her arching up in a show of submissiveness as he speaks again with an almost unusual ring of confidence, “Yeah? My little adventurer’s whimpering so cutely underneath me, is she sure she can handle it?”
Alycea’s eyes roll back in her head at the unexpected dirty talk because Gods does it have her wanting more, more, more--
Her brain all but shuts down entirely when one of Erenville’s calloused fingers trails across the side of her neck and down to her collarbone, and to make matters even worse for her addled mind, he starts rutting against her.
He’s hard , she realizes half lucid. He’s hard, he wants her just as badly and yet he holds himself back for the sake of his godsdamned experiment – it's a farce either way, so she may as well spoil it for him already.
“B-base of my tail... ‘s extra sensitive.” Erenville freezes, his eyes narrowing on hers in acknowledgement, with a darkness and passion swirling in them she had yet to see him express before now.
It takes him mere seconds, then, to rid her of her undergarments and to pull his own down far enough to free his weeping cock.
The Au Ra salivates a little at the sight, not having seen such a perfectly sized cock since she last laid with one of her own kind – on the First, she believes it had been.
Erenville snaps his fingers in front of her face to bring her back to the here and now, and she gives an enthusiastic nod followed immediately by a squeal while he scissors her open for him and flicks boldly at her clit with his free hand.
It has the savior of the star absolutely delirious and making filthy sounds beneath him and if he didn’t feel the incessant need to empty himself as deep inside her as he could, he might let his ego revel in it a tad more.
He gives Alycea another look – her eyes are a little glossed over and unfocused, and she keeps whining in pleasure at his ministrations, but she has enough sense to still nod her consent to him.
But it’s not yet enough for Erenville, who removes his hand from between her legs and carefully wraps it around her scaled throat instead, “I need your words, my friend. Are you still with me, do you still want this?”
He whispers the last part, his lips hovering just barely above hers.
Alycea swallows thickly, and Erenville can feel it beneath his palm when she speaks, “Yes, yes, please... Been so long since I could let go like this. G-give me what I know you want too.”
Her ability to disarm him with just her words is yet another thing that makes her so beloved, Erenville muses silently as he closes the distance between them – and swallows her moan with a pleased sigh as he pushes to the hilt, her own hips twitching up against his.
He gives an experimental roll of his hips, then another – and then she hisses when he seems to have found the perfect angle. His pace increases considerably, driving his cock deep into her repeatedly while she tugs clumsily at him and allows her lips and tongue to clash with his.
It’s messy, it’s dirty, and it’s straightforward.
The Raen gasps for air when Erenville eventually pulls back from her, somehow hitting an even deeper spot within her from the adjustment, and if it weren’t for his own soft pants and the sweat glistening on his dark skin he might look entirely unaffected.
The man in question notices with mild amusement that his partner seems preoccupied with ogling him and makes full use of the opportunity; his hand, still resting leisurely around her neck as of now, trails a path down, across her collarbone and her breast – making sure to pinch a nipple, prompting her now-widened eyes to snap to him as her breathing quickens and her moans flow even more freely. His fingers trail further, across her ribcage and the dip of her hip where yet more scales cover her pale skin, until he finds purchase at the small of her back.
Erenville, ever a perfect picture of composure, leans forward and trails his lips up the side of her neck and jaw, “Come on, warrior,” his strained voice belies how close to his climax he is, rough and huskier than usual, “allow me to be your salvation .”
He barely utters the last word as he brushes his knuckles against the base of Alycea’s tail, and the woman thrashes – her peak is upon her as her body locks up around his, pulling both him and his cock as deep into her as she can, until neither can tell where they end and the other begins.
It’s, paradoxically, simultaneously the most intense and most relaxing orgasm the woman has experienced in her life. It takes her a few moments to realize Erenville had stopped thrusting, and equipped with her usual cheeky tone, she rasps, “You haven’t finished yet. Let me be yours .”
Her tone and emphasis both make a breathless laugh vibrate in his chest, and he resumes with renewed vigor – when her hand, bold as ever, tugs his hair and him closer to his breaking point, he groans, “Where do I--? Apologies, I didn’t... I can...”
Erenville trails off, words lost in this heated haze, but she nevertheless seems to understand when she says, “Inside, ah~ Magic’s a wonderful contraceptive.”
It goes against his every fiber to be contented with such a simple explanation but it does the trick – he buries himself in her warmth one more time, and she shudders with shameless delight as his thick release fills her insides.
They stay like this for what must almost be a full minute, until Alycea makes a face when Erenville goes to pull his softened cock from her and a slightly gross mixture of bodily fluids follows.
He rolls to lie next to her, and turns his head to look at her with a hitherto unknown fondness, “I don’t suppose,” he licks his lips a little, “you have a cleaning spell of sorts in that repertoire of yours?”
The Au Ra laughs heartily but doesn’t dismiss the idea outright – instead, she closes her eyes and mentally goes through her vast spellbook. She’s staring up at the ceiling when she finally replies, “Not cleaning per se, but water-based if that helps?”
Erenville quirks an eyebrow at the frankly questionable use of magic the warrior of light seems to have no qualms employing, yet nonetheless nods. Alycea grins knowingly and instructs him to fetch her pictomancer’s soulstone from the outside pocket of her pack, a convincing pout of “my legs feel like pudding thanks to you ” somehow expediting the process.
She switches her attunement to the craft and grabs her brush from where it appeared on the floor next to her, standing up with an ease that has Erenville sighing at his own naivety.
Curious, he follows Alycea a few steps onto the deck – but not far enough to where they could be seen, “You’re not going to literally paint us with water, are you?”
“Why do you sound so incredulous? Look up, I’ll cast it on that.”
He does, and finds a small targeting apparition hanging above his head, “I trust that this is stable enough to—Alright alright, I apologize for doubting you,” he has to interrupt himself when she elbows him.
Annoyingly enough, it takes a second cast for the target to be properly drenched, but no sooner does Alycea throw her brush back to the ground does the promised water rain down on the pair from above and cleans them off in a way Erenville could only accurately describe as whimsical .
Even if it has turned dark some bells ago, the warmth of the area serves wonders to dry them off – and for a mercy, both of them have comfortable clothes in their packs.
They make to sit on the sofa together, and Erenville freezes for a few beats when Alycea – exceedingly careful not to poke him with her horns, which he is very much grateful for – leans against his shoulder, but he relaxes moments later.
Or at least he tries to – the slight twitch of his ears and his averted eyes betray his sheepishness. If Alycea notices, she doesn’t mention it, “I need to make a slight correction to something I said earlier.”
Erenville perks up, mildly alarmed while she continues, “Please don’t ask how I know because it’s embarrassing but it’s true that magical contraceptive methods exist. However, it’s...” she trails off, rubbing nervously at her arm as if this fact would make the ex-gleaner think any less of her, “It’s not entirely the truth in my case. I admit to fantasia abuse in my youth – the untrained eye of a teenager in Ul’dah’s streets is gullible enough to buy anything, okay – and while I’m otherwise healthy, Twelve preserve me, it has left me with a bit of a... fertility issue. It’s not untreatable, Y’shtola has offered to assist me on the matter in fact, but I have yet to take her up on it and I just--”
She stops abruptly, her mouth agape when Erenville twists slightly to kiss the top of her head and then his hand takes hold of her chin ever so gently, and she sees a tender smile playing on his lips, “It heartens me to hear that such a time is behind you now but I’ll have you know, you almost drove me to a heart attack at the thought I may have sired a child.”
“Sorry--” His thumb gliding over her cheek puts her train of thought to a screeching halt, and she realizes there is not even a hint of malice in his voice, “Don’t, hero. I’m just grateful you felt comfortable enough to tell me such a thing.”
Alycea huffs like an indignant child would, “’Tis just because I know you don’t have loose lips, as opposed to a certain other few of my allies...”
Erenville perks up, intrigued, “Oh~?”
“I’ve already said too much!” She squeaks and, for good measure, plants a quick peck on the Viera’s lips before slipping free of his hold and settling her head on his lap instead – somewhere he can’t see her blush.
It’s there, in his lap, where she eventually drifts off to sleep, Erenville gently combing through her hair with an amused shake of his head.
Alycea awakens in the morning pointedly alone and still on the sofa, though she is quick to get over her initial dismay at the feeling when she notices not only the blanket Erenville must have covered her in, but particularly the piece of paper crumpling on her chest when she sits up – at least he had the courtesy to leave a note, she thinks and smiles at the neat handwriting.
“Hello my friend,
forgive me for leaving you with no more than this – Wuk Lamat was calling for me rather insistently, and you are well aware by now of how she doesn’t take no for an answer. Especially not from me... But that is neither here nor there. I hope the rest of your night was pleasant, considering how enjoyable the part of it we spent together was.”
Her face warms considerably at the memory before she continues reading.
“I believe you mentioned wanting to be mine - ‘let me be yours’, I recall you saying. Now, I know full well the implication of what you said, and that it was certainly an... extraordinary circumstance we found ourselves in. Nevertheless, the literal idea tempts me and so do you, warrior. As such, I would be pleased to not have this be a one-time situation – I trust you will find your own way to give me your answer, and I’ll await it eagerly.
Erenville”
It takes every onze of the Au Ra’s self control to not kick her feet and scream into a pillow – instead, she takes a few seconds to ground herself with her tail around her own leg before getting up and stretching, shortly thereafter on the way to meet some of her companions for breakfast.
Tacos, of course – what else is a woman on vacation supposed to do after all? Maintain a healthy diet? Always time for that later.
She finds G’raha and Y’shtola already sitting at a table while she pats down her hair as much as she can, and as she sits, finds herself cornered by the Miqo’te woman’s gaze – she has to stifle a groan at the realization of what she wants, instead dropping her head onto the table and wordlessly placing a small gil pouch on the table.
A very smug looking Y’shtola takes it with a pleased hum, and a flushed red G’raha Tia watches between the two women in shock, is he to believe his dear sweet friend actually got laid ?!
Alycea senses this and narrows her eyes at him, before speaking in a tone that has the poor man before her scrambling.
“Breathe a word of any of this to anyone , and I will singlehandedly send you back to the First and leave you stranded in the middle of the ocean there.”