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Jobs are stressful, that much everyone can agree, but a job as a scion, nevertheless, the Warrior of Light, is a stressor of another level.
Hence, Reissia Illiadis, the Warrior of Light of the 7th Astral Era is once again indulging in the most guiltiest of pleasures; retail therapy. Even as much as Sia, as her friends affectionately calls her, loves her job as a hero (and perhaps a little bit of the wanton violence committed along the way), bearing the weight of everyone’s expectations can sometimes prove too much to bear for one singular woman.
And so she begins; a few bracelets here, some weapons there and add in that cute fat cat plushie to boot, her shopping bags fill steadily as she flits from stall to stall, but her pace comes to a sudden stop when she once again finds herself parked in front of the stall of the scions’ regular painter.
“Here for another one, my lady?”, the painter teasingly calls out to Sia, to which she becomes bashful as to what he was implying.
Implying that yes, Sia was yet again here to buy another portrait. A portrait that she had bought many times before on her previous shopping trips. A portrait of the newest addition to the scions, a bright and intellectual red-headed miqo'te, Sia’s crush that she cannot deny, G’raha Tia. She grew fond of him in the face of his unwavering support of her and the surprising amount of banter she could get up to him, especially for a more silent one such as her. Despite being the object of admiration for many, and definitely of G’raha himself, she thinks her crush unrequited, that he looks upon her only as an idol or a hero, not as a potential partner.
Hence she copes by buying these portraits of him, which just so perfectly captures the quiet confidence in his small smirk and determined eyes facing as if towards her, his brilliant red eyes that she could get lost in… But was she really going to purchase yet another portrait of him? Does she even have more wall spaces for these? What if he ever, Hydaelyn forbids, sees them?
The questions cloud her mind, and yet her body betrays her, her hands already handing the appropriate amount of gil over.
With a grin, the painter hands over yet another Adventure Calls to Sia, who could scarcely look him in the eye.
She quickly tucks it away into one of her sacks, and promptly starts the teleportation spell back to her residence, the sooner she gets away from here the better, lest she lingers and feels the rising need to bury herself underneath the neat cobblestone of Ishgard.
With a cloud of blue aether whisking her back home, she breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she caught a whiff of the scent of Lavender Beds’ many flowers. That relief however was short-lived.
She had nearly dropped all that she was carrying when she caught sight of a very familiar cat-hooded lalafellin woman and a very, very familiar mi’qote man, who both looked like they had been anticipating her.
“Sia! We have been waiting for you!” Krile called out with an excited wave and ran to Sia who unconsciously swung her sack carrying that portrait behind her back.
“We hope you don’t mind us dropping in. Progress on our most recent project hadn't been going well and I thought a certain someone here could use a little pick-me-up,” Krile winked unceremoniously to G’raha who promptly looked taken aback. “And so here we are!” she finished with a flourish of outspread arms.
Sia looked nothing short of flabbergasted. G’raha who with slight panic, took notice of her expression and cleared his throat in an obvious fashion, “AHEM. I think what Krile had meant to say was that the fresh air of the Black Shroud would do US both good. That WE BOTH would love to visit your lovely home here… to relax! Right, WE are here to relax. If you are willing, my friend,” he ended with a nervous smile.
The odd emphasis of his words and sudden loss of eloquence was not lost to Sia but the more pressing matter was that the object of her affections himself, and Krile, would like to visit her house. Her house that is filled with portraits of said object of affection. For the love of Thaliak’s thumping thighs, this could only spell a disaster but the thought of rejecting his request tore at her even more.
After an obvious pause, she gave a small hesitant nod in his direction, and immediately, he gave her a bright smile. “YES!” he yelled with a fist pumping the air. “Oh, I mean if it’s not too much trouble,” he then quickly tacked on as if to balance his startling outburst.
The looming anxiety of him possibly coming upon her stash was creeping up on her but his endearing smile and the thought of spending at least the next few hours with him had her smiling unconsciously. She gave him a much more enthusiastic nod and the two lingered in a comfortable silence, both grinning at the other, both forgetting they had a third party in the situation.
Said third party was already steps ahead of them and sautered right to the cottage’s door. “Well, it's good that you’re both content with having the other for a view, but I for one am positively curious about our darling warrior’s home, so I hope you wouldn’t mind me inviting myself in first,” without even waiting for a response she pushed past the door and had entered.
Sia was already mortified at Krile’s first statement but the next had her internally yelling each of the twelve’s names in vain. Krile cannot be allowed to roam free in her house. By the wise(?) words of a certain former azure dragoon, never let the lalafellin ladies of the scions know your dirt, or you’ll be on the hook every week for spending too much on a hair tie.
Recalling his words, even if they were questionable, he still had said them so exasperatedly that it prompted her into action. Sia, with the reflexes as expected of the hero that returned from the far edge of the universe in one piece, dashed in and found herself ahead of Krile who was just taking a gander of the thankfully tasteful decor that was placed in the living room.
Sia mentally thanked her past self of deciding against putting one facing the doorway, as cute as the idea may have been, that she would be greeted with his smile each time she came home, the fact that the dozens of portraits are covering the walls of a room she had in the back instead had her thanking the gods. As long as neither of her guests traipse away from her sight, they would be none the wiser of her dirty little secret.
G’raha had found his way in not long after, and he looked upon her homely abode with the same reverence others look upon a place of worship. His ears perked, and tail swishing behind him as he surveyed the room, his eyes darting from side to side almost dramatically, and did he just take a whiff? Surely not. Rather, Sia thought it would be more likely that she had to be hallucinating from all the tinctures she had been drinking.
So intently that she was focused on G’raha, that she had nearly forgotten to keep an eye on Krile. Sia whipped her head towards Krile, who luckily, was only keenly checking out her knick-knacks. Sia breathed a sigh of relief. That relief however, did not last long, as moments later she posed a request to be brought around for a house tour.
Estinien could not be more right, Krile and Tataru truly had a talent for sniffing out one’s weakness and while the latter is the more dangerous of the two, the former was already a lot to contend with. Sia shuddered at the thought of being exposed, so she urged herself to think of something to distract her guests with. She mulled to herself as Krile looked upon her with anticipation, the ticks from her nearby wall clock seemingly getting louder with each passing moment. As if on cue, she felt a pang of hunger rising, interrupting her racing thoughts.
“How about some lunch?” She blurted out.
G’raha’s ears had perked up at the suggestion, “That would be lov-”
“I could make some baked eggplant for us. Or perhaps some baba ganoush instead or maybe some-” Sia prattled on and on about which dishes she could make for their little party, she had not even noticed she had already received an agreement.
Krile could not stop herself from an all-knowing grin, Sia was rarely this animated, it was suspicious to say the least. She stood in front of G’raha, knowingly interrupting his second attempt at an agreement to a meal, “Oh Sia, don’t be silly! A delivery mammet is already on the way with some lunch, we could hardly expect you to cook for us after dropping by uninvited, could we?”
“Well, I don’t mi-,” Sia tried to protest but Krile did not leave her room to interject.
“ And I heard from Tataru you spent millions of gil on renovations, so a small tour would be appropriate to show off your hard work while we wait for the delivery, don’t you think?” Krile finished with a sweet smile aimed at Sia who once again was mulling for a response.
Krile then glanced at G’raha, who was shooting her a look, and in return Krile shot him a look back; To which he promptly joined her tune in asking for a tour. Strange.
Sia was perplexed at this exchange and the odd insistence of this request, given how G’raha had always said he wanted to try her cooking. However, she could not think of any reason to refute Krile at this point nor could she find it in her to reject G’raha’s request. Against her better judgment and with great reluctance, she gave a slight nod and motioned for them to follow her, internally hoping that the rest of her home was interesting enough that she could stealthily skip over that room.
The tour went relatively well up to a certain point. Oddly enough, G’raha stiffened up after the exchange he had with Krile, but he had the same amazed look on his face throughout and was continuous in giving out compliments for her home. Krile however looked like a lalafell on a mission, eyeing every possible detail, but attempted to act natural by punctuating every scrutiny of the place with small comments. It unnerved Sia but there was nothing incriminating that Krile could find from the kitchen to the basement. Soothing herself with that thought, she let her focus wander back to her crush who was still taking in the sights. She thought his enthusiasm was cute, though she wished she had cleaned up a little more, but perhaps he liked the slight disorganization? His work area back at the Baldesion Annex was similar, so perhaps this had catered to his taste? She pondered over this, as she slowly guided them back to where they had started.
And so, the tour was about to end without a hitch and that was the case, until Krile snapped her back to reality.
“Sia, what could ever be in that room over there?” she pointed out towards an undisturbed door at the corner of the house. With a twinkle in her eye, Krile had a feeling she hit the jackpot when Sia’s eyes widened in an instant.
“Come now Krile, we are guests. We shouldn’t intrude too much,” injected G’raha who had noticed Sia’s stunned look.
Now, Krile was just so curious on what could possibly be their warrior’s secret and perhaps, she wondered, if this room could be hiding the push that this ever oblivious duo would need. But she was no Tataru Taru, she still had some decorum. It was best to let it be, she thought.
However, fate had other plans. G’raha, who after injecting, had resumed taking in every corner of Sia’s abode, down to each dust speck. So absorbed was he, that he had tripped on the same sack that stashed his portrait which Sia had tossed haphazardly to the side before, and he crashed right into that very door. Which was not locked.
G’raha Tia, who had tumbled into that room, found himself face to face with, well, himself. Not just one, but many hims who were staring back at him. His eyes darted around the room, but every inch was covered in his own portrait, with nary a gap to be found. His gaze finally landed back at Krile who stood at the doorway, stunned just as Sia was moments ago. However, now Sia had the look of a woman defeated, a woman who wished she took herself up on the offer of burying herself underneath cobblestone because anything would be better than the situation she was in right now.
Forget wanting him to consider her as a potential partner, she should consider herself lucky if he still wanted to be within 50 yalms of her after this. All she could mutter out was a, “I should have let the Endsinger end it all,” before slumping her shoulders, “or maybe even Zenos.” She finished before deciding to perpetually stare a hole into the ground.
There was a silence. A long one.
Krile felt immensely guilty, she had only intended to play a bit of matchmaking, but now her actions had inadvertently caused Sia to be so very dejected. She thought about how she ought to say something or anything to defuse the situation, if there was even a way to.
“Sia, I-”, but before she could get any further, she was interrupted by a surprising, “Me too.”
Sia snapped her head towards the man who just said that, confusion overtaking the depression.
G’raha, who suddenly had the same determined look as he had in the portraits he now stands amongst, repeated, “Me too, I-I have a similar room. Of you.”
There was another silence again. But this time, the tension in the air was dissipating.
“Really? Of me?” Sia asked hopefully as if to confirm that she was not hallucinating out of desperation, the light of her eyes returning.
“Truly! And not just portraits, but other… merchandise else well.” He had admitted so ardently, as if a visible weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Can I ask why?” With a growing blush upon her cheeks, the question of where the other merchandise of hers even came from did not even spring to her at that moment, only the anticipation of his answer was present in her thoughts.
“Well, it's obviously because I-!”
Krile shut the door behind her to give them some privacy, their voices fading away into silence. ‘They’ll be alright’, she thought to herself, happily resigning herself to the fate of picking up the slack at the Annex for G’raha for the rest of the day.