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“Your hair is getting long,”
It's a small observation, but it still causes the young Elezen to freeze up. Yet, the Au Ra sitting behind him who was brushing through his hair doesn't seem to notice it. Alphinaud was fresh from a bath after the events of the day. The Scions just came back to their bodies a day ago after spending a good length of time in the First, and were still recovering from the merging of their souls.
“...you think so?” Alphinaud coughs, flipping to the next page of the tome in his lap. He's dressed in the comfiest clothes he owns, otherwise Krile or Tataru would scold him if they caught him wearing anything close to his gear. They needed to rest.
At this time, it was just him and Lio in the infirmary of Dawn's Respite. Everyone else had taken to the main hall of The Rising Stones for dinner, as a good meal was needed to help recovering souls. The two were only here because Lio wanted to tend to Alphinaud's hair in privacy.
“Mm,” Lio hums, pausing to work through a cluster of tangles. “Is it common for male Elezen to keep their hair long?” The Dragoon finally glances up.
“Hm,” Alphinaud ponders over the question, not even flinching when Lio finally breaks through the tangles. “I suppose it would depend on a few different factors. Upbringing, culture, and class,”
“I assume it holds no relation if you're a warrior or not,” The Au Ra murmurs. “Estinien fights like any other powerful soldier yet minds to keep his hair long,” Then he combs his hands through the boy's hair. “I can also presume that it holds no relation to if your poor or wealthy either?”
“Perhaps not,” Alphinaud chuckles to himself. “Mother always kept our hair long growing up, even with our more luxurious upbringing,”
Lio only rolls his eyes.
“I could hardly tell you and your sister apart for the better half of a year,” Lio teases and this causes Alphinaud's shoulders to droop.
“And that much is still the case?”
“Definitely not,” Lio laughs. “Alisaie has a much more stern nature to her body language than you, different colored ribbons in your braids or not,”
Alphinaud is unsure if that's a compliment or not.
“Is that so?” Alphinaud mumbles to himself with a smile. “At least one dragoon can make out who is who,” He doesn't mean to poke at Ser Estinien's blunder of mixing up the twins the first time the older Elezen met Alisaie, but it's a joke passed around nonetheless. As long as Alisaie isn't present because she still finds that moment infuriating.
“Braids tonight?” Lio asks quietly.
“Always,” Alphinaud nods, relaxing with a sigh as he feels the small, male Au Ra get to work. A nagging question pops into his mind suddenly, and he can no longer focus on the words on the page. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“What, a warrior can't know how to braid hair?”
“As if I would imply such a thing!” The boy stammers but this only gets Lio to laugh.
“No, no, I know what you mean,” The Au Ra smiles softly. His own hair is a short yet fluffy bob, and Galo's hair was a spiked-side mohawk—so Alphinaud had every right to question it. “On the run… there would always be kids,”
Alphinaud fell silent, urging for Lio to continue out of his own volition. The Au Ra rarely shared stories of his past to the people here, because it was information he didn't want to give out quite yet. As far as the boy knew, Lio was once a freedom fighter wanted by the law for… something unknown. And that there were many like him that committed a similar crime… to say Alphinaud was curious of this past of his was an understatement. Yet, he never prodded Lio for more because it wasn't his business.
Though, he feels it might have to relate to the vibrant pink fire Lio can suddenly wield.
“Sometimes, the kids needed distractions from the scary realities of our situation so I… would do anything I could to keep them happy,” Lio continued, putting just as much care and detail into Alphinaud's braid as he would back then.
“I see,” Alphinaud's voice was quiet.
“And that included learning how to braid hair,” Lio goes on. “And I'm damn good at it to boot,” He adds with well-known confidence.
“I'll hold you up to it,” The young Elezen laughs.
“And while you recover, I'm making sure it stays out of the way,” Lio huffs, snapping several bands into Alphinaud's hair to keep the braids in place.
“Are you taking inspiration from Galo?” Alphinaud giggles. Just yesterday, Galo braided Alisaie's hair to keep it short and out of the way, because the girl was every bit of the word spitfire. And while she had no intentions of fighting now, she still deserved the attention.
“I know you were jealous of your sister's hair, bud. I'm not blind like Y'shtola,” Lio then grimaces. “...don't tell her I said that,”
Alphinaud laughs despite the jab at his ego. “Your secret’s safe with me,”
“Good,”
Lio continues his work while Alphinaud goes back to reading his tome. The Elezen has hardly taken in any of the information on these pages, his mind in other places.
“Do you plan to ever cut your hair?” Lio ponders suddenly and Alphinaud doesn't immediately respond.
“I… don't think so,” The boy finally replies. He can hear Lio shuffle around behind him. “I feel like it's a part of who I am,”
“To match your sister?”
“Heaven's no!” Alphinaud shakes his head softly, making sure not to make any sudden movements to offset Lio's hard work. “Even if she were to choose to someday cut her hair, I would remain the same as I am now. Maybe even grow it out more,”
“Hm,” Lio nods. “I think it suits you,” He says as he stops. “You'll need a trim for sure though, your ends are frayed,”
“I'll take that into account,” Alphinaud murmurs, going still as Lio begins to wrap the braid up tighter. It swirls around the back of his head, and the Au Ra makes sure to place the blue ribbon towards the bottom. Just because he can tell the twins apart from each other doesn't mean the other Scions aren't as observant.
Especially Ser Estinien.
“There,” Lio sits back. “That should keep it clean and out of the way for a while. One less thing you need to worry about while you restore your strength,” He looks it over a few more times, making sure the braids are tight but comfortable.
“Thank you,” Alphinaud relaxes, reaching back to lightly pat at his head. “This was different from when mother did it,”
“Is that so?” Lio tilts his head.
“I don't know why though! It's not like I'm trying to make a comparison,” Alphinaud laughs nervously suddenly, closing the tome to place on the corner of his bed. He does know why actually—he really looked up to Lio–has been since their time spent in Ishgard, Ala Mhigo, and even back on the First. He liked Lio a lot and saw him as a…
A…
Well, a father.
No shame to his own parents, he loved them dearly and always would. But time spent with Lio, and even Galo had made the boy realize that their way about life was so much different. They did not live sheltered lives, gaining information from within tomes about the outside world. They were “street smart” or that's how Galo put it.
Alphinaud still cannot shake his guilt over his misdeeds with the Crystal Braves. Time and time again, he was reminded it was a mistake he had to learn from. The Warriors of Light made sure to keep his head in place, and it's that humbling experience that's earned him the right to fight alongside the Scions still.
That, and finally achieve his goal to unite Eorzea as one.
“You're a good kid, Alphinaud,” Lio stands, stretching as he does. Then, he's reaching over to pat the top of the boy's head with known affection. The young Elezen can't help but glance at the white scar that's etched itself across Lio's right eye and the bridge of his nose—the eye itself glowing bright in the dim room. The remnants of their time in the First, when the Warrior of Darkness, as he was called, had gone under the effects of light poisoning. The fact that the Au Ra was standing here and now was an amazing feat in itself, his show of strength seemingly knowing no bounds.
Yet, it still made Alphinaud anxious.
“You're staring again,” Lio smirks at him, arms crossing over his chest. The boy fidgets, glancing away which makes him more guilty. “I'm fine, I promise,”
“I hold no qualms that you aren't,” Alphinaud swallows. “It's just something we have to adjust to,”
“It's a reminder of what we've been through,” Lio corrects him. “Don't belittle yourselves for the deeds you did in the First. I wouldn't have pulled any of that off without you by my side,”
The young Elezen nods. A silence falls between them, if only for a few seconds before–
“...I heard Tataru was prepping a mix of her best tea in the main area. I'm sure our comrades would love to see us join them,” Lio suggests and this catches Alphinaud's attention. “If you're feeling well enough, that is,”
“I feel quite alright, in fact!” Alphinaud gets to his feet much quicker than he should have, because he instantly gets a head rush and nearly collapses again. Thankfully, Lio is there to catch him, letting him sit back down on the bed.
“Maybe take it slower next time. All five of you and your ignorance to keep things slow…” Lio exasperates. He and Galo have been picking fights with all five of the Scions since they returned to their bodies yesterday, mostly out of their own wellbeing. The Au Ra couple were not as threatening as their fellow Lalafells—Krile and Tataru could put the fear of Hydaelyn herself into anyone.
The Scions were, in all honesty, horrible patients.
“My apologies,” Alphinaud appears genuinely remorseful and Lio only pats him on the shoulder in reassurance.
“You're better than your sister,” Lio laughs. “Let's try again,” He says as he reaches a hand out for Alphinaud to grab. In which the boy blinks then smiles softly, grabbing the outstretched hand and being pulled up with incredible strength.
“Easy,” Lio murmurs to him, hands hovering around his back just in case.
“I'm fine,” Alphinaud nods. “But I appreciate your concern,”
“My concern stems from the fact that all of you still act like a babe learning how to walk for the first time,” Lio scoffs as they begin to stride out of the infirmary and towards the main hall of The Rising Stones, where the rest of the group had congregated for the evening. “I'll have to bring it up with Krile later on,”
“Oh Heavens above, spare me. I don't think I can handle another round of her aether ministrations,” Alphinaud whimpers. A pat on the back from Lio as he smirks with a wink.
“Hopefully Tataru's tea helps you heal faster then,”