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Grass isn't supposed to be purple, but at least the creatures that evolved to camouflage in it were prettier... barely.
Still, purple or green, they were pretty hard to appreciate while running for your life and standing just shy of a foot tall. Not like it was your fault either, you and your Warrior of Light just seemed to switch places at random, but coming in occasionally had the strangest effects on your aether. Today you were luckily otherwise unscathed; aside from your height, that is.
"Would you fuckers give it up already?!" You mutter to yourself, running across the uneven dirt with increasingly heavy breaths, feeling the light gusts of wind from the plant creatures leaves gusting against your heels. Thankfully for you, the things are fairly slow, but in this state... so are you.
All you had to do was make it to the Crystarium. Not that you were entirely sure how far you were from the city walls, given you'd just been dropped into the middle of the woods with no context-or minimap for that matter. Whether anyone you knew would be near the city walls was irrelevant, thankfully; the guards should be able to help you regardless, so for the time being you just focused on staying alive.
Pulling your eyes up from the ground for a brief moment, you catch sight of the brick wall not too far in the distance. Thank the gods. In any other context, these asshole mobs would've lost aggro ages ago, but as soon as you're "here for real" and "genuinely vulnerable" apparently it was a different story.
"Just a little bit further, there should be a patrol..." Your muttering is more of a breathless whisper now, though careless could be another descriptor for it, if you really felt like stretching the- thud.
Around your chest; a cold, tight, purple vine nearly squeezes the all breath from your lungs as you squeak, but you're still on the ground just long enough to hear a familiar voice.
"-nd if you could update me on your progress in a few suns time, I'd be more than happy to-" thwip
A beat later, and all you can hear is the wind rushing past your ears, practically feeling the blood leave your cheeks as your hair whips across your face. But if he was here-
"Alphinaud!" You call with whatever breath you have left, barely even able to make out the shapes ahead of you anymore as you struggle against the vine holding your chest, hair having made a lovely mess of your vision now. As much as the limb felt and looked like a vine, it certainly wasn't fragile like one.
You couldn't help but wince as you felt the vine tighten, curling closer to itself and adding another loop of prison to your lower waist. From here you can hear the deeply unsettling sound of its plant mouth pulling opening, and then snapping closed with a loud enough crack to make you flinch. It sounds so close... had Alphinaud even heard you? Maybe you'd be able to wriggle out of the creature's mouth, because until then, you were basically in full body containment.. Crshh
A sharp, magical crackle sounds from underneath you, and in that same instant, you're in free fall.
He... he had heard you! But he was probably a good distance away, considering he'd been casting... Your blurry vision catches a glimpse of his white hair nearby, before flicking to the rapidly approaching purple foliage and brown dirt beneath you. You could barely breathe, chest tight as the overwhelming gravity of the situation finally encompassed your mind.
And then you landed on skin.
Soft and warm... it slowly seeps through your clothes as you lay frozen in his hands.
"Y/N! Thank Hydaelyn- I'm so sorry I didn't see you sooner, are you alright?" Alphinaud's voice seems to surround you in its hum as he speaks, and though you don't quite process exactly what he says, the fact that he's here is more than enough to let you move again. Speaking, on the other hand...
Your arms search over his hands for a second, eyes still only half open, before finding purchase and wrapping tight around his thumb. Heart pounding against him, your breaths come out in quick huffs, throat still tight as you try to take slightly less gasping breaths. You weren't even in danger anymore, but that didn't seem to change anything.
"You're a bit sooner than usual, or I would've-... Y/N?" Alphinaud's voice quickly softens above you, hands curling gently around your form with a soft, guilty sigh.
"But it's... it's alright now, you're safe. You did well to make it here on your own." He hesitates briefly, but his gentle affirmations still hit their mark. He may not be adept at comforting people, but with a bit more experience under his belt (thanks to your fun new curse), and a growing knowledge of what worked for you in particular, he was improving faster than you'd expected.
Though, it wasn't until you felt his free thumb slowly running over your side that you finally let out a deep, shaky breath.
"I'm-,, I'm sorry for-" Your voice is weak, and you're still too shaken to speak without your stutter kicking in, but Alphinaud is already talking over you anyways.
"Hush now, not a word. You've no apologies to make until some part in this grand mystery turns out to be your fault, and yours alone, understood?" You can't help but let out an amused, though unsurprised huff. His assertive tone always felt a bit silly-especially when directed at you-but that stubbornness was practically a birthright, so you hardly ever fought back.
"You're such a sweetheart." You counter quietly, your acceptance implied in your non-combative response. Breaths finally starting to slow, you pull your arms back to rub at your eyes, tidying your hair so you can finally see again, before slowly pushing yourself to sit up.
As you shift, the thumb that'd been tracing over your side lands a bit harder on your ribs than intended, and a sudden wave of pain makes you grimace, falling back to your forearms with a sharp breath.
"Ah- sorry! Hells, I didn't even check if you were hurt..." Alphinaud curses himself quietly, and you can only roll your eyes with a weak huff, sitting up and finally managing a glance at the scholar. His brows were furrowed, sky blue eyes sharp with focus as he scanned your small form in his hands.
"Always so worried." You dismiss him with a shake of your head, suddenly feeling the urge to comfort him in kind. Unsure of exactly how you'd go about that though, you pause in thought just as you feel the breath of Alphinaud's relieved sigh ruffle your hair.
"You say that as if I don't have every reason to be. Thankfully you're only a bit bruised, so I should be able to speed up your recovery somewhat." He almost sounds like he's scolding you, but even if you apologized again, something tells you it wouldn't go any better than last time.
"Not even a fulm tall..." He mutters to himself as you watch the soft green glow of aether manipulation begin to cover his palms and snake around your legs.
"I suppose I should be grateful you didn't get stuck in a tree somewhere instead, mm?" He adds with a light chuckle, and if it weren't for the warm blanket of healing washing over your body, you would've reached up to bat that pleased smirk right off of his face.
"Or that I'm not tall enough to strangle you right now? There's many blessings you should be counting right now." You retort, settling with just shooting a tired, amused glare up at Alphinaud as you lean back on your hands (and... his).
Your words finally pull a proper laugh from Alphinaud, his smile widening as a familiar, fond look returns to his eyes.
"It's good to see you back as well, dear friend. Shall we make for the Crystarium? The others might like to know of your arrival." He ignores your teasing, and despite your disappointment that the banter is over, you suppose it's only fair given that you're still standing on the outskirts of the forest.
"What, so I can be handed around like some plaything again?" Alphinaud raises a teasing brow at your question, not even bothering to hide his knowing smirk.
"So you'd rather stay here, is that it?" He was asking to be punched-begging really-but you were a benevolent god.
"Well if I don't have a say in the matter, I may as well have some fun with it." You retort, crossing your arms with a pout. Deprived of his hands, Alphinaud lets out a poorly restrained laugh, but not before turning around to walk back towards the Crystarium. There's a small beat of silence as Alphinaud's gaze drifts over the horizon, hints of a sly smile growing beneath his innocent, thoughtful facade.
"You want 'a say', and yet... I'm not sure I heard a single sound out of you the last time you were 'passed around'. How very strange..." His musings almost sound like he's just thinking out loud, but your gaze immediately falls to your lap as you try to play off his entirely factual teasing.
"Well- I mean- of course I didn't say anything! Y'know... like, worst case scenario, it's just better if everyone knows how to handle me safely." You stammer a counter argument, staring intently at your hands fidgeting in your lap, but you can still feel the amused stare coming from above you as Alphinaud feigns a sigh.
"And here I thought you liked being held. My sincerest apologies, Y/N." He was far too good at keeping a straight face.
"Wh-!" Your head pops up to stare back at Alphinaud, flustered glare quickly morphing into a smile of disbelief.
"I never said that, thank you very much!"
"Said what, pray tell?" His innocent deflection was enough to make you gasp, but his already victorious, pleased smile just screams 'checkmate'.
"...You're a scheming little brat, you know that, right?"
"I've done no such thing! Here, I can even put you down if it bothers you so much-" Alphinaud pauses in step, his smirk nearly bordering on a grin now, but you interrupt him before he can crouch down.
"You- alright, alright! Gods, you'd think we were mid negotiation with your ruthlessness..." You finally give in, arms uncrossing to rest your hands defensively (protectively?) against his palms with a relenting sigh.
Alphinaud's smile widens gladly, but he makes no motion to move anywhere, only watching on in expectant silence. You give him a beat to speak, before the realization hits you that he's waiting for your answer, the little shit.
"You don't... need to change anything. And neither does anyone else. I-... I like things just fine the way they are." You admit reluctantly, words still getting caught in your throat despite not really admitting anything explicitly. Alphinaud's head tilts slightly to one side, affectionate look reaching the corners of his eyes.
"Much better." He hums, looking back up the path and returning to his steady pace, headed homeward.
"You're an awful liar, you know."
"...You breathe a word of this to anyone and I promise you will not know peace."
"I'd never dream of it."