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During their time at the First, he only watched her from afar, taking in her beauty, her strength, her power and will – she was, without any exaggeration, the most incredible, amazing person he had ever met, and in part he would never forgive himself for not taking in all she offered in their brief adventure in the Crystal Tower, way before then, when he was still whole and not this shell of what he had once been. He took his time, during their new adventure, to watch her and care for her the best he could, to make sure she was comfortable and well, despite the lies and the amount of sacrifices he made her go through. None of that had been his choice, if he could, he would have saved the shard by himself, without involving her, without involving her friends, without making any of them suffer at all. But he was unsuccessful, and they hurt, and she almost died, and by some sort of destiny prank, he had to sacrifice himself, only for his memories to be taken back to his home, the Source, and be fused with his past memories and body that had been just recently locked inside the tower. It was an odd sensation, to be back where it all began, with part of his old personality back, with all the memories of the hundreds of years he passed away, trying to fix the damage the empire had made, mourning his heroin until he met her and her friends again.
It was surreal... and breathtaking, to be part of her group, to be able to help her, to aid her in her conquests, in her new battles, in her new victories, although fewer by now, but he was sure that soon they would be large in quantity, in quality, he was sure they would save the world again and again and again, and he would be part of it now. He couldn’t be prouder of himself, nor more filled with expectations.
But amazement wasn’t the only feeling he nurtured towards the Warrior of Light and Darkness, that woman that portraited herself so firmly, to calmly, so sure of herself, that held all and any weapon with expertise, that had countless of years of battles of experience, even before she had turned into an adventurer and had left the safety of her community, that was so gentle and sweet to children, small animals and weaklings, and that could hold herself alone in battle with the biggest and strongest of monsters – she, who had stolen his heart time and time again, several times, since the Crystal Tower, all the way to the First, and back to the Source.
But to approach such a woman... it was a hard task, at least for him, who hadn't ever felt anything remotely close to that towards anyone at all. He needed help... he needed advice.
"You what?"
Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea, G'raha thought, but now it was too late.
"I need romantic advice... please" he said, sitting down at one of the many tables in the rising stones, surrounded by the warrior's closest friends – and now his closest friends too – the Scions.
"I'm not sure you are asking the right group of people" Estinien said, raising an eyebrow but clearly willing to participate, since he did not move other than to take his cup of tea and sip it. A few of the Scions nodded in agreement – a very embarrassed Alphinaud and an unsure Thancred – but Y'shtola was the one to settle the subject, giving him a nod and smiling over her cup of tea.
"We can at least try. Can you tell us who it is?" she asked, and G'raha stared at her intimidated. Women from the Seekers of the Sun already intimidated him enough, but Y'shtola was somehow much worst. He really did not deserve his Tia title.
"I would rather not... I don't want to spoil the surprise, and I don't want any of you telling them" he said, that being the best excuse he could manage, and it did end up offending some of the Scions – Tataru especially – but Y'shtola simply chuckled quietly and nodded, pushing the others to accept his terms.
"At least tell us their gender, there are different approaches depending on it" Thancred offered, leaning back against his chair, now already interested. Out of all participants, Alphinaud seemed to be looking for some sort of escape, but being unable to find any (there weren't any immediate meetings or things to be done at the moment), he sighed and sunk on his chair, blushing to the tip of his ears. Luckily, G'raha was not paying attention.
"They are a woman" he said, and they all nodded, some humming and others just silent. Alisaie wiggled on her chair and crossed her legs, leaning against her hand over the table.
"Well, try buying her flowers or something, usually it works" she said, shrugging, but Y'shtola gave her a smirk in response.
"Would you?"
"No."
"Me neither. So that's not a good start" she said, turning back to G'raha. "What have you been thinking of doing? Surely you have some ideas."
"Um... many. Too many to put any of them in practice is the thing" he said, by now he was sure his cheeks were as red as his hair, his tail impatiently wiggling through the hole on the chair, side to side. "I thought about a present – flowers or chocolates – but ditched the idea, I don't think she would like it."
"A romantic dinner, p'rhaps?" Urianger offered, tilting his head. "Under the light of the stars?"
"That's such an Astro advice" Alisaie rolled her eyes, while Thancred shrugged.
"It's fun, it's cute, and most important, it's personal. Gives you time to get to know them, and make sure they are in the same page" he offered, and G'raha's ears twitched slightly.
"What if it's too much?" he asked, unsure, playing with his tea that by now was ice cold.
"Invite her to your bedroom and fuck" Estinien said, suddenly, and Alphinaud spit his tea on the table while Y'shtola let out a laugh, the others all turning to him with wide eyes, G'raha now with his whole face burning in shame. "It usually works for me."
"By the gods Estinien!" Alphinaud gasped, cleaning himself and the table with a cloth while trying to push his embarrassment down. "Have you no manners?!"
"No" he answered, sipping some more of his tea while Thancred joined in with Y'shtola's laugher. G'raha whined softly and laid his head on the table, defeated, sighing when he felt someone patting his head and looking up to see Alisaie with a gentle expression, being the one petting him.
"I'm sure you can get better advice anywhere else than this table" she said, pulling away when he raised up. "Besides, we can't really help unless you tell us who it is."
"Just tell her how you feel. Be brave. The worst that can happen is that she will say no and move on" Y'shtola shrugged, and G'raha was ready to answer when the door to the Rising Stones opened and she walked in, looking like she had just left from a battle. They turned their heads towards Krys as she rubbed her hair, pushing the dirt off and smiling at the group.
"Hello" she said, heading towards their table. "Did I lose some type of important meeting?"
She pulled a chair and sat down next to Y'shtola and Urianger, reaching for the clean cup of tea Tataru brought her and thanking the Lalafell before turning back and smiling at them, waiting for a response. They all turned to look at G'raha, who was still blushing, but seemed determined.
"I have to tell you something!" he exclaimed, probably a bit louder than he had meant to, but Krys stared at him curiously. The Scions all looked between the two and waited, sipping on their tea.
"Oh! What's up?" she asked, her nose twitching and her ears moving a bit to listen to him carefully. G'raha took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trembling slightly.
"I like you! Do you want to go on a date with me?!" he exclaimed, once again so loud probably the patrons in the bar outside could hear it, but he didn't care, his ears pressed flat against his head, his tail up pressed against his back, all puffed up. His question was met with silence, and he opened his eyes to stare at her, the warrior's face showing surprise.
"Oh... um..." she said, blinking slowly and then giving him a small smile. "I'm... sorry G'raha, but I don't feel the same for you... you're like my little brother."
He blinked slowly, listening to those words and feeling like his lungs were being compressed together and his heart was ten times heavier, sinking to his stomach.
"I'm... I'm older than you..." he mumbled, unsure what to say, but she shrugged gently.
"Well yeah... I'm sorry G'raha, but no, I don't want to go on a date with you" she smiled and looked over to the clock on the wall, sighing. "Ugh I have to go. See you guys at night. Sorry again" she waved at G'raha, grabbing a sandwich and leaving the Rising stones. He stared at her until the doors closed and then he fell on his chair, his eyes filling with tears.
"You should have told us it was her" Alisaie said, shaking her head and leaning over to pet his head again while he sniffled, shaking his head.
"I never... little brother?! I... that's not fair!"
"Yeah we know" Alisaie agreed, and he turned to her, staring until she shrugged. "It happened the same with me."
"What?"
"I think it happened to all of us at some point" Thancred said, shrugging and tapping G'raha on the shoulder. "Believe me, you'll get past it buddy."
"Wait! All of you... that means..." he mumbled, wiping his tears, and Y'shtola shook her head.
"Not me. Luckily. I did not want to suffer like they did and like you will, thank the gods" she chuckled and the others all nodded, all but Estinien, who kept sipping on his tea. G'raha looked at him, sighing.
"You're also lucky not to fall for her?" he asked, drinking some of his tea and wincing at how cold it was, but Estinien shrugged.
"In a way. From what I know, she only loved one person her whole life and he died shortly after."
"Haurchefant... yes I remember" Alphinaud nodded, sighing softly. "I was jealous of him for a time but he made her so happy... I mean I'm over that stupid crush but what happened to him... wasn't nice."
"I read about him, I think... his father wrote the Dragon Song War" G'raha mumbled, sniffling and biting into a cookie. "Gods... a little brother? That's humiliating."
"It's even worst when you discover she had a thing with Emet-Selch" Y'shtola said, blinking slowly after she said it and then chuckling. "Well the truth would come out eventually."
"She what?!" Alisaie and Thancred exclaimed at the same time, getting up from their seats, and Y'shtola just shrugged and served herself some more tea.
"He was our enemy..." Alphinaud mumbled while G'raha's eyes filled with tears again. Y'shtola shrugged, and nodded.
"Yes. She told me not to tell you but you know things come out. Besides, he's dead so..."
"Doth thee knoweth of any oth'r conquests our friend hadst behind our backs?" Urianger asked, even he seeming slightly agitated with the news, and Y'shtola blinked slowly, giving them a little shrug.
"Who?! Please do not say Zenos!" Alisaie said, leaning over the desk, all of the Scions' eyes on the miqo'te. Y'shtola chuckled and reached for a piece of cake.
"No, not Zenos, by the gods. But she has had a few love affairs through the time we have been adventuring... a few known names... Hien, Magnai, Aymeric, Lyse our former Scion comrade... Lyna, your darling granddaughter... who else..."
"Me" Estinien said, casually, all eyes turning furiously towards him as he shrugged. "I gave you the advice, you didn't want to follow."
"You asked her to your room and you fucked?!" G'raha asked, his voice trembling between anger and sadness. "I can't believe this..."
"I'm still not over Emet-Selch" Thancred mumbled, shaking his head. "That's just... too much."
"She slept with Estinien!" Alisaie yelled, sitting down and slamming her hand on the table. "I can't... AH!"
"Hey guys I forgot..." a voice came from the doors of the Rising Stones, and they all turned to see Krys standing by the open doors, eyes widening at the sight of her friends so distressed. "What... happened?"
"Oh, I think I just spilled out some tea... I'm sorry" Y'shtola said, with Estinien giving her a small nod, and Krys stared at them before sighing.
"Well... now it's all said and done. I forgot my gun blade" she said, coming inside and ignoring the angry and disappointed stares towards her. "I'm meeting Gaius for some practice, wanna come Estinien?"
"Sure" he stood up and grabbed his lance, waving his hand towards the others. "See you all later."
"Have fun" Y'shtola waved while the pair left the room, turning her glance towards the tea and humming. "Did she ever sleep with Gaius, I wonder..."
"I fucking hATE THIS!" Alisaie yelled, pushing her chair and leaving the room towards the bedrooms, while Y'shtola chuckled, watching as all the other Scions left the table, some offended and some just upset. She hummed, wondering about how much Krile would laugh after she told today's events to her over linkpearl.
Luckily, they wouldn't have to go out in a mission for a few weeks, there were several grumpy Scions that would not do well working together at the moment. She could only laugh.