emet_sulk | [avalon] IC Inbox

"Hmph. Someone needed to curb your flights of whimsy."

He interlaces his fingers with Hythlodaeus', squeezing gently. "They endured eight hundred years in that harsh land before I decided to shape them into a military force. Though they lacked any sort of control over aether, they built a city amongst the peaks. Sometimes I would look over it as their emperor and feel as though I was home again..."

He trails off, expression dimming. "I suppose it will have been razed by now during the war of succession."

Hythlodaeus does not quite reply to that last part - the more violent ways of the mortals are still a mystery and a shock to him, nor does he want his friend to dwell once more on cruelty and suffering.

"Selfishly, I cannot help wondering if that lack of proficiency with aether did not remind you of me. Though you might oft grumble, you've always had the urge to take others under your wing."

"You have aether, Hythlodaeus, and you know how to use it. You simply chose not to." He eyes his friend in tired exasperation. "Do not downplay your potential. Please."

You were not useless.

"But if I do not, how am I to have you do things in my stead?" he replies jokingly, bumping his shoulder against Hades's gently.

"That aside... would you tell me more of the Garleans?"

He wrinkles his nose even as his heart flutters happily. Silly fool. But as ever, he is willing to indulge.

"They were once farmers occupying the warm, southern region of the continent of Ilsabard," he explains. "Their lands were fertile. Despite not possessing the ability to utilise aether, they eked out a humble living tending the fields. But their neighbours, jealous of their prosperity and disdainful of their inability to wield aether, drove them further and further north until they had no choice but to settle in the frigid and barren mountains.

"They had fought every step of the way of course, but without any meaningful way to combat the native magic of the other races, they were left to scrounge for what they could in the harshest region of the land. With their discovery of ceruleum - a type of fuel formed of aether liquefied underground - I was able to set them on a path towards technological dominance."

Hythlodaeus nods carefully, not commenting on the animosity between the races - that's still a strange and confusing subject to him, and not one he wants to explore right now.

"Oh? I confess, it's surprising to hear you took an interest in advancing technology. 'Tis not quite your field of expertise, is it?"

"There were only three of us capable of remembering anything," he says with a sigh. "Though it was more like two at times. I had to learn to take on the others' roles."

And then when Lahabrea had died... He shakes the thought out of his mind and leans against Hythlodaeus.

"They developed new disciplines of medicine. With surgery, one could recover from nigh on any physical illness."

He smiles softly as Hades leans on him, and then moves to give him a quick kiss on the cheek - a brief touch of warmth among the winter's chill.

"That sounds like a worthwhile pursuit. And all by a people with no access to magicks... Were you at the helm for those developments as well?"

"I was the one who gave them the idea to develop the ceruleum engine which they would then use to power war machina. It was enough to give them the edge in battle," he murmurs. He hadn't enjoyed warfare, but seeing the Garlean people finally standing tall with hope in their eyes...how could he not feel moved?

... Ah, and it still comes down to this. Hythlodaeus sighs internally, but decides not to dwell on it overmuch.

"Did you enjoy leading them?"

Did he? He shifts a little more securely into Hythlodaeus' side as they slowly walk.

"...Yes," he eventually says softly. "For the first decade or so, I did."

Hythlodaeus can only guess what happened after that first decade, but right now he would much rather focus on what good Hades can remember.

"Tell me some of your fonder memories. It heartens me to know you yet found some happiness in that world."

He falls silent as he tries to remember more pleasant times. They are always moments, brief and fleeting, like the lives he lived amongst the people. Not like the long stretches of fondness he recalls in the unsundered world...

"I... When I was newly crowned emperor of Garlemald, I would sit with the soldiers around the fire and eat with them during campaigns. Such was their reverence for me that they named the soup we ate that night in my honour." A pause. "The people also named a park after me - after Solus. Despite being a military nation, I couldn't bear seeing children without somewhere to play. In Solus' later years, there was a playwright whom I favoured with my patronage; I gifted him an airship so that he might take his talent to the rest of Ilsabard and beyond."

Hythlodaeus chuckles quietly, glancing over to his friend with unconcealed fondness.

"Ah... that is so much like you, Hades. For all your shyness, you've always cared for people so deeply."

Even those he ostensibly despised - much as he scorns mortals, the Garleans were mortal, too. Hythlodaeus wonders if Hades has ever thought about the fact.

He flushes pink and draws the collar of his coat higher. "I am not shy... I am private."

Lengthening his stride, he tugs Hythlodaeus on at a more brisk pace. "Here, we're nearly there. See?"

Hythlodaeus chuckles to himself, following. It's sweet that Hades seems to think that arriving at their destination will somehow stop Hythlodaeus from his antics.

"That we are. But am I really not allowed a little more time to adore my bonded?"

Mouth set in a mulish line, he steps in close and rises on tiptoe to kiss Hythlodaeus' cheek.

"You can adore me all you like at home. Now come. I would like that hot drink you promised me."

He grins in response, squeezing Hades's hand.

"I'll hold you to that, then. And, hmm... I believe there was a stall over there." He points down a path - and indeed, in the distance there's a darker shape of a small shop. "Their drinks are quite delightful, by all accounts - though as with many things here, you are like to find magical ingredients in them. Hopefully naught too unusual, hmm?"

"Hopefully."

He wanders down the path with Hythlodaeus by his side, casting his gaze over the list of available beverages.

"Let's buy one to share, shall we? Or do you have your own preference?"

Though there were indeed his own ideas Hythlodaeus had, the thought of sharing a beverage is a rather more fun one. He grins in response, then looks over to the list as well.

"Oh, I would certainly love to share one... assuming you are fine with such an obvious display of our closeness."

Said as though they didn't walk here arm in arm.

He rolls his eyes, elbowing his friend (gently, for him).

"We are holding hands, you kissed me on the cheek but moments ago, and we bear matching rings. Don't embarrass me further."

Of course, the correct response is to put his head on Hades's shoulder, even if it's a little awkward with the height difference.

"Now that sounds like a challenge to me, Agesandros."

"How could you possibly be more embarrassing?" he asks indignantly. He eyes Hythlodaeus out of the corner of his eye, wary but (notably) not pulling away.

He feels like he's going to regret asking this.

A fine question, if a dangerous one for Hades himself. Hythlodaeus smirks smugly, takes both his friend's hands in his own for a few moments as he positions himself before Hades... and then gets down on one knee, disregarding the snow, and begins to recite - a love poem in the Ancient tongue. Though the words would be unfamiliar to passersby, the tenderness and affection in Hythlodaeus's voice (which he does not particularly bother to lower) are obvious enough to make it clear what's going on.

Too shocked initially to stop the other man, he's forced to watch (and listen) with increasing horror as Hythlodaeus recites the poem in full hearing of everyone else at the beverage stand. His face grows even redder than it already has from the cold, and by the end of it he's desperately trying to tug Hythlodaeus back to his feet.

He can't bear to see the looks on everyone else's faces right now. He wants to shrivel into the ground.

"Alright - alright you have quite made your point! Please, stop," he hisses.

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at least he was useful for [spoilers] :)

hey now >8(

:3

Hyth is not disposable!!

Or Is He :)

HE WILL PLUCK YOU FROM ZODIARK'S EMBRACE HIMSELF IF HE HAS TO

wow what are you gay

he's just jealous Zodiark got Hyth all to himself for 12,000 years okay :T

you could have come to the moon to visit, smh

but then he would have been emo :(

AS IF HE WASN'T EMO ALREADY

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I'M SORRY I'VE BEEN TOO DEPRESSED TO ACTUALLY LOOK UP A POEM...

IT'S ALRIGHT, IT'S NOT LIKE EMET IS ALREADY DYING OF EMBARRASSMENT OR ANYTHING