shadowbringers

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shadowbringers

beneath the stars It's been a week since our newest expansion officially launched! And, I know, I know... some of you already have a lot of feelings that you need to air out. But canon updating in your games is a struggle! And so is finding PSL partners! Luckily, that's what we're here for. This is a post for you to play out all the Shadowbringers-related content you might be dying to write. Behind-the-scenes nonsense? Between-the-scenes angst? It's all welcome here! 1. Toplevel your character. Include any details you might think are relevant. Or don't. As always, we're not the cops. 2. Reply to other people's top levels! 3. Have fun! ⚔ Please clearly mark all spoilers in your thread subject lines. Clearly indicate whatever spoiler preferences you may have. We're only a week into the expansion, officially, and there's no shame if you're not far in it or haven't started it yet. ⚔ You are welcome to play characters who are new to Shadowbringers. However, please try to avoid topleveling with icons and descriptions that convey major plot-related spoilers. If you aren't certain about a character's playability, feel free to PM parser.

TEMPLATE CODED BY valoirs

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[seasoflight]

Felih laughs again then, mind immediately flitting to a certain fussy engineer, and his equally-ridiculous rival.

"Very true. You know Nero tol Scaeva? A disaster of a human being, if you ask me," he purrs, happy to gossip. "So many misplaced and misdirected feelings. 'Twould have been better if Garlemald were not so stifled. It feels useless- unhealthy, even- to deny one's emotions, to deny them outlet."

[angeloftruth]

"Scaeva? He's still alive?" That's impressive, honestly. "He's not still part of the army, is he? I kept waiting for him to turn traitor like Garlond."

[seasoflight]

Felih laughs again. "You didn't know? Well, yes, he lives. Were it not for him, a great number of things would not be as they are..." The Crystal Tower, for one. And how Omega had been handled...

"He's entertaining to rile up," he purrs, relaxing as he gossips. Shit-talking Nero was always fun, alright? "I'm not sure if he counts as traitor, exactly, being presumed dead and all. He simply realized that the Empire was not the best place for him to be- he seems to be going about wreaking his own manner of mischief, still determined as ever to create new marvels of engineering."

Suddenly overtaken by a hint of mischief (that he may regret), Felih pulls back just slightly to look Emet-Selch in the eyes, before cracking a playful smile again. "Hm... I wonder, did your wife ever tell you that you'd look better if you smiled?" he teases, purring still, a finger coming up to poke at the corner of the Ascian's mouth. Don't poke the lion, Felih.

"You chose a handsome face, I suppose, but it doesn't help much if you insist on looking so dour..."

[angeloftruth]

And the vague good mood is mostly ruined now. Emet-Selch frowns harder at Felih's shenanigans, swatting his hand away and leaning back.

"No, she didn't. I was the better looking of the two of us."

[seasoflight]

Felih laughs again, bright-eyed still, and tucks himself back under Emet's chin with a loud, steady purr. "If you insist. She must have found you nice enough eye-candy to marry, after all," he chirps, before adjusting himself, moving to settle in the man's lap instead before lazily looping his arms over the man's shoulders, in a rather laid-back embrace.

Well, if he dies, he at least dies doing something most folk can say they never accomplished.

After another few moments of a hummed melody, Felih does murmur much more softly. "...you know, you can hold me back. If you like. You did say you weren't intent on killing me just yet..."

[angeloftruth]

"Because there'd be no point, not because I'm particularly fond of you." And yet here he sits, letting the Warrior of Whatever laze about in his lap. What are the worlds coming to. "Why are you even here?"

[seasoflight]

Felih pulls back, still with his arms looped around his neck, and purrs, smiling up at him. It's a simple thing, and he replies, "You happened to be here, and I wanted to take advantage of the rare opportunity. Is that so odd? I can't help but be curious about you. And it does not take a genius to know that you find my companions and I worth some interest, otherwise you would not deign to tag along with us."

[angeloftruth]

"Wanting to ask me questions is one thing. This--" He gestures between them, eyebrow raised "--is quite another."

[seasoflight]

That, however, gives Felih pause. Some warmth rises to his cheeks, but he shuts his eyes to think.

"You said you hadn't been touched in decades," he responds slowly, his ears slowly drooping. "...I cannot imagine what you must be experiencing. But to me- to be alone, without this warmth- without another's embrace... it would be so bitterly, painfully lonely."

He lets out a slow, deep sigh, the mirth gone as he looks aside, refusing to meet the man's gaze now.

"...call me a fool all you like. But it seems that is something I could not wish on even my worst enemy, as it turns out," he murmurs, a wry smile on his lips.

[angeloftruth]

Oh.

Damn, sometimes Felih makes it hard to ignore who he once was.

But he'll never admit it. Emet-Selch merely frowns, studying the Warrior. "If this is pity for the enemy, I may have to adjust my assessment of you."

[seasoflight]

"Not pity, not quite..." he hums so very softly, more melody following as he tries to order his thoughts.

Felih still doesn't dare to look up at him.

"You of all folk should've noticed by now," he adds quietly. "I- I can't sit still. Not when- not when there are wounds to be tended, illnesses to be treated, things to be fixed and repaired, hearts to be comforted, people to be helped."

"I don't know," he finally mutters. "It's as I said. To feel that loneliness would be agony, to me. Just as being stripped of my voice, of song, of any part of me. And- well. You insist you're not lying, and you insist you intend to be on peaceful terms with us for now, and so- so..."

He bows his head.

"...it's not the same as yours, I know. But I know what it's like to be alone."

[angeloftruth]

A pause.

"You're right," he finally admits. "You don't know what it's like. You can't, not as you are. And yet you insist on...affection? Towards a likely enemy?"

[seasoflight]

That earns the Ascian another short laugh, though weak.

"Even I get tired of fighting all the time, you know," he says softly. "I'll be dead one day, one way or another. What's the point of spending what precious little time I have on conflict- on wounding folk- when I don't have to? I'd rather help. What's the point in making my life one that brings more harm, than help? What's the point of drowning myself in hatred and anger and war- when I could just take respite in the brief moments of peace afforded to me?"

"Scorn me all you like," Felih murmurs, "but if my enemy would lay down their arms for a day, I would not deny them that moment of peace, too. At the end of it all, we're just two people trying to get through another day."

"...even you must get tired, musn't you?"

[angeloftruth]

...perhaps Felih is more than just a--

No. No that way lies pain.

Emet sighs and relaxes at long last, giving in to Felih's odd ways. "I am exhausted. But, as they say, no rest for the wicked."

[seasoflight]

Felih manages a weak smile, but moves back in, head resting against the man's shoulder now, as he shuts his eyes and just holds him. It still surprises him that the man feels warm. Of course he does, he's in a living body, after all- but Felih has grown too accustomed to the idea of Ascians simply being spirits of darkness, cold and ethereal.

"Yes," he murmurs, "so they say. I'm exhausted, too."

[angeloftruth]

There's nothing Emet-Selch can say to that. He can imagine how exhausting it must be, playing the hero to a bunch of fragmented souls who in ten years time will have forgotten all about him, to say nothing of taking in all that Light.

Instead he just lets Felih lie, mind swirling.

[seasoflight]

Felih purrs quietly as he rests there, curled up in his lap. It's only as he finds himself drifting to sleep that he realizes, faintly, in the back of his mind...

This feels familiar, somehow.

He does the most stupid, reckless thing he could ever imagine himself doing, and fell asleep in the Ascian's lap, breaths slow and deep and soft, body relaxed and warm against his. He should not feel at ease, here. He should be on highest alert, sleeping lightly as he always does, uncomfortable with being out in the open amid wild creatures and an enemy against him, and yet...

...well, mayhaps he is too exhausted, after all. Something tells him he'll wake up alright.