stuck meme

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stuck meme

esuna off that paralysis Post toplevels, reply as usual. Hope you enjoy your quality time with your thread partner, now that you're stuck... 01. IN A CROWD — for bonus points: in a crowd, after an argument. 02. DEFENDING THE BASE — while you wait for reinforcements to arrive. Good luck! 03. ON A RAFT — or a manacutter or an airship or something, drifting towards a deserted island. 04. IN A RELATIONSHIP — that your thread partner is trying to break you out of. The relationship can be with someone else... or just your bed/pet/hobby/gambling habit. 05. IN A WAITING ROOM — while you're waiting to hear a healer/conjurer/physician/chirurgeon's assessment, and you really didn't want to run into anyone... or maybe you'd like some emotional support? 06. TRYING TO NAVIGATE — through the Ul'dahn marketplace, maybe, or Hawker's Alley, or any number of confusing Lominsan/Gridanian/Sharlayan alleyways. 07. STANDING GUARD — wherever might be applicable: outside the Rising Stones? Rowena's House of Splendors? Or maybe awkwardly in front of a bedroom with a near-stranger so that the person who hired you to keep watch can get it on inside... 08. WITH YOUR HAIR — caught in someone else's belt or leather sheath or inexplicable shoulder spike... oh, adventurers and their impractical clothing. 09. DELIVERING TERRIBLE NEWS — exactly what's on the tin. Sucks to be you. 10. DOING THE DISHES — at a restaurant where you forgot your wallet and couldn't pay the bill. 11. IN A LAKE — because this person caught you skinny-dipping and won't... go... away... 12. WAITING TO BE RANSOMED — in the actually-quite-loving care of some especially incompetent criminals. Enjoy being stuck! This meme was gently lifted off bakerstreet.

TEMPLATE CODED BY valoirs

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[haillenarte]

Your nose is forgiven.

[francel tilts his cheek into zephirin's touch. he closes his eyes, reliving the gentle stroke of zephirin's thumb a hundred times over in his mind.

then he leans closer, propping his elbows on the edge of the mattress. he peers expectantly at zephirin's face. he is nervous — but he tells himself that this is nothing, that they have kissed before. that this demand is just one of many others.]

...If you kiss me, mayhap I shall forgive the rest of you.

[valhourdin]

[ It is Francel's first such request, asking Zephirin to kiss him instead of acting impulsively to kiss the knight. His words sound playfully demanding, but he knows what he asks, what he wants. Temptation lurks in the boy's gaze and in the line of his mouth.

If Zephirin kisses Francel, he sets a new precedent.

If he kisses Francel, he indulges his own desires.

He does not withdraw his hand or draw back, and their faces are close as the end of his thumb touches one corner of Francel's mouth. Today, recognizing the cruelty and the futility of his attempts to restrain their friendship, Zephirin offers Francel a confession: ]

...Know that I would, were I at liberty to do so.

[haillenarte]

[zephirin does not pull away, does not recoil in disgust, but he does not accept francel's offer, either, and it makes the young lord lower his gaze. demureness and disappointment mingle in the way his lashes come to rest against his cheek.

what to do now?

he is afraid to lose zephirin; he is afraid to push too far. he is afraid to lose zephirin; he wishes only to claim what he craves.]

...Why are you not at liberty to do so, Zephirin?

[valhourdin]

[ Denied his wish, Francel reacts with quiet dejection — where someone else in his place might sulk until appeased, he merely questions Zephirin's qualms as though the world outside this room does not exist. His question has a number of answers, but in the end, the only one that matters is this: ]

I will not knowingly cause you harm.

[ Zephirin's hand wanders to the crown of Francel's head, halting nestled in the boy's hair. ]

Is one kiss all you ask?

[haillenarte]

...Yes.

[for now goes unsaid. dreamily, francel closes his eyes, happy just to have the weight of zephirin's hand in his hair.

for a moment, the world outside this room ceases to exist.]

You could never do me harm.

[valhourdin]

[ One kiss — naught more can come of it. One kiss must be enough, harmless within these walls.

The Fury knows their hearts, and Zephirin's has its imperfections, supplying ready excuses to justify his actions now, but he leans closer, even closer, brushes Francel's flower-scented hair away from his forehead, and presses his lips to the boy's brow. Then, tilting his head, he repeats the gesture lower, one kiss to leave upon Francel's soft mouth. ]

[haillenarte]

[francel's mouth is soft, and it is warm, too. it twitches slightly beneath the pressure of zephirin's thin lips, and then it kisses back, tantalizing heat and infinite plushness.

when they part, francel's delicate eyelids flutter open; his fingers find zephirin's mouth.]

...You see? You do me so much good in this.

[valhourdin]

[ Within these walls, there are no repercussions, only the reward of Francel's joy restored, and Francel's words tempt Zephirin to believe them. His lips brush against the boy's fingertips, curving slightly as his hand trails from Francel's head back to his cheek, downward again to settle upon the front of Francel's bliaud.

A second confession soon joins the first; piece by piece, Zephirin exposes his heart to Francel. ]

...I care for you as I have never permitted myself to care for any man or woman, Joacin. I was of the belief that I acted as a true friend ought.

[ Out in the open outside this room, they cannot cross an innocuous friendship's boundary lines. ]

[haillenarte]

[these simple words set francel's heart ablaze.

he has leaned forward and seated himself upon the edge of the bed before he has even thought twice about the endeavor. francel's hips are pressed against the mattress; his torso leans over zephirin's, though not heavily enough that the injured knight might be in discomfort. and he wants so very badly to kiss zephirin again, to hear those loving words once more...]

You are a true friend.

[he whispers, in a hushed and reverent voice.]

I... I care for you the same way, too.

[and perhaps — perhaps that is a lie. francel cannot claim never cared for any other man in the way that zephirin can. he loved haurchefant, once; he has a shallow but lasting infatuation with artoirel. but still — still, what he feels for zephirin is not quite the same hopeless longing that he felt for haurchefant. it is different, and he finds himself giving voice to these differences, as if they might ease the burdens from his heart.]

Oh, Zephirin, I... I want to be close to you, so fervently, so madly that it aches...

[valhourdin]

[ Would a true friend give in to his desires, feeding the forbidden whilst knowing full well that such closeness is forever confined to secrecy? Not only that, but every knight gifted his share of Francel's heart becomes a potential source of anguish.

For now, they live. For now, Francel entrusts his lonely, fragile heart to Zephirin, enticingly earnest.

A true friend would overcome the greed roused within his breast, would recognize the danger in Francel's declaration and strive to act in his friend's best interests. ]

I am yours. [ Zephirin's other hand lifts from the covers; his fingertips touch Francel's mouth. Partially in jest, uttered gravely, he adds: ] I dare not venture closer, however...

[ Not while a bath is in order. ]

[haillenarte]

[perhaps a true friend would resist the call of francel's lonely heart; perhaps a true friend would not risk the danger of a broken heart for the reward of a love reciprocated. but then has not the course of their friendship been pure temptation? tempting touches, enticing words, and the carefully layered seduction of a seminarian's soothing fingers...

francel laughs — he does take the remark as a joke, and he guesses at its meaning as he presses a kiss to zephirin's fingers.]

You look fine! [the young lord leans in, breathes deep of zephirin's scent — he even licks his lips.] And you smell fine.

[but he can be like this. he can lean close to zephirin, and touch him like this. francel's hands jitter with excitement; he is so happy, so elated, to finally have confirmation of the knight's feelings for him that his eyes almost well up with tears. he laces his fingers together to stop their trembling, but this simply makes his joined hands tremble instead.

the lordling is nevertheless content to maintain their distance, at least so long as zephirin remains so gravely injured that even small movements bring pain. he simply sits, smiling, staring at zephirin with an overwhelming fondness.]

And I... I am yours, in turn. I would do anything for you.

[valhourdin]

[ Zephirin raises his brows as Francel leans in not for another kiss, but to assess his scent — to voice his approval as though a bite of Ishgardian knight would make a finer breakfast than Madam Adrienne's scrambled eggs. The corners of Zephirin's mouth twitch. He lowers his gaze to Francel's trembling hands, and moving his own, he envelops the boy's in their grip.

Francel brims with devotion, it seems, nigh overflowing. ]

...Anything?

[ Zephirin closes his eyes. He cannot ask Francel never to worry, never to grieve, should aught befall him.

Perhaps a true friend would ask but one thing. ]

[haillenarte]

Anything!

[francel's happiness is palpable, nigh tangible in his warm, shaking fingers. he tilts his head slightly, as if to look at zephirin from a new perspective; his small lips thin in a smile that seems to make his round cheeks still rounder.]

You need but name your heart's desire, and I shall see it through.

[valhourdin]

[ Such vows leave Francel's heart vulnerable, but he has entrusted it to someone who intends to guard it well at the least. Opening his eyes to the boy's smile, Zephirin is treated to Francel's joy shining brighter, and he does not speak of things to extinguish it. ]

What of yours? Have you a wish to name?

[ Or has Francel done so, asking for a kiss this time, confessing the extent of his feelings? ]

[haillenarte]

Well, nothing at present...

[francel mulls his thoughts over for a moment, then brightens once more.]

When you feel up to it, I can take you to our baths. And after you are clean, I can knead your tired muscles some more. Would you like that?

[valhourdin]

[ Perhaps because he anticipates Zephirin's response, Francel expresses his familiar desire to see his friend relaxed, cloaked in the luxuries he offers. The mere thought of a bath and Francel's soothing fingers combined promises heavenly bliss on this earth.

Once more, with a soft chuckle, Zephirin lowers his gaze to their hands. Lightly, almost absently, his thumb wanders the ridge of Francel's knuckles. ]

I must needs return to the Congregation. I confess, I am loath to take my leave...

[haillenarte]

But why? Why must you return to the Congregation?

[francel does not sound impatient or imploring — merely confused, and perhaps a little hurt. he allows his knuckles to be petted, closing his eyes — the better to relish the soft warmth of zephirin’s gentle thumb against his skin.]

They discharged you, but you yet remain injured. Can you not recuperate here for a while longer?

[valhourdin]

[ Zephirin's gaze flicks upward now, pausing briefly on Francel's mouth before continuing onward to the boy's closed eyes. Francel's tone is wounded, tinged with a touch of his earlier puzzled dejection — like as not he perceives Zephirin's announcement as a refusal of his hospitality, or an abrupt attempt at resisting further temptation in the wake of their confessions.

The knight's thumb stills. ]

One night, two or three at the most, should raise no questions... A stay of many days more will, as I do not recall receiving permission to go with you.

[ Yesterday's memories are sharper than those of the day before, no disjointed patchwork of sounds and sensations and blurred images, and neither he nor Francel spoke to his superiors. ]

[haillenarte]

Ah... I suppose that is true...

[some avaricious part of francel’s heart objects to these words, to the idea that zephirin needs permission from anyone to go where he pleases. zephirin is not an object, and in francel’s mind, he should not have to be held to the rules and regulations and demands of military service. yet another, still more avaricious part of him hisses dark promises in his ear: to the temple knight commanders, surely, zephirin is just one more soldier in a sea of many, and francel wonders for a moment just how much gil he must give to ishgard to buy zephirin’s eternal service.

the thought should not occur to him. and anyway, there are others who would miss zephirin, like ser guerrique, or some other friend.]

...Then, should I... should I go with you to the Congregation?

[valhourdin]

[ Despite his announcement, Zephirin is all too aware that he cannot return to the Congregation today, perhaps not even tomorrow. He has rested and rested, and yet his body demands still more. Without Francel's aid, he might make it only as far as the door to the adjoining room.

Zephirin sinks back a little further into the pillows, searching the young lord's expression. ]

Is it your wish to accompany me?

[haillenarte]

[francel's expression turns truly wistful then, and this time there is something imploring in the softness of his eyes as he looks into zephirin's.]

...My wish is to be with you, always. If it is your wish to go to the Congregation, then it will be my wish to accompany you. But...

[francel's left hand finds zephirin's, on top of his right. softly, lovingly, he squeezes their hands together.]

...I want you to stay here.

[valhourdin]

[ Francel's wish places his heart at risk once again, for always is no easy wish to grant, no pledge to make lightly. Zephirin can promise Francel his friendship, even his love, and what is his to give will belong to the boy forevermore, but a knight of Ishgard is an unreliable remedy to ease loneliness.

Always would bind them together. ]

...I am here, Joacin. [ Zephirin's reminder comes with a squeeze of Francel's fingers in turn. Francel is yet shaken and fears losing his knights, Zephirin supposes. ] My wish is merely to avoid forcing Ser Guerrique to explain my disappearance.

[haillenarte]

[this, at least, seems to put francel at ease. he lifts zephirin's hand and presses it to his cheek, still maintaining his same imploring gaze.]

...Then what do you want to do? Should I contact the Temple Knights? Should we go to the Congregation together?

Tell me what you desire.

[valhourdin]

[ Allowing Francel to guide his hand's path, Zephirin wills the weariness from his limbs, cradling the boy's cheek. He should go alone. Francel should not speak on his behalf.

The fewer questions they must answer, the fewer eyes observing them, the better. ]

...Your safety and your happiness. Pray rest, and I shall seek permission to extend my stay.

[haillenarte]

...If you say so...

[pressing a kiss to zephirin's palm, and then another to his wrist, and still another further down his arm, francel's irises flick toward zephirin's face, gazing just a little coquettishly from the corner of his eye.]

...Will you really be fine on your own? Perhaps I should send a messenger to call upon Ser Guerrique...