historicals | pc catchall | turboheaven

[ what a day. no lighthouse this time! taair is instead sitting outside in the garden with his sketchbook in his lap, open to a half finished portrait.

he's rubbing his temples at the moment as opposed to actually drawing, and he looks up, blinks, and then smiles gently at the sight of yves - tired, but still taair, as ever. ]

Yves... hello. How are you feeling?

[ yves will walk over then with a little basket on his arm ]

... dizzy—not from bloodloss or anything but... you know.

[ what a wild one ]

I brought some wine. Want a glass?

...Honestly, I would love one.

[ actually that sounds great. deja vu - from weeks and weeks ago. the first trial feels like centuries away, now.

he scoots over where he's just like. sitting in the dirt, and adjusts his little blanket cape thing so it kind of acts like a blanket, then pats the spot. here, come sit. ] You are like a breath of fresh air no matter the circumstances, you know.

I feel much the same. I'm not even sure we came to the correct conclusion for the correct reasons....a broken clock is right twice a day... and we're left with more questions.

Edited (THE REST OF MY TAG!!!1) 2025-03-09 02:47 (UTC)

[ yves joins taair easily with a small smile, immediately moving to pour two glasses of wine for them and offering one. he sits close enough that their shoulders brush, watching taair's expression. he brings up his free hand to tuck some of taair's hair behind his ear ]

If there's anything I can do to ease your heart, I'm happy to do it.

But... I do feel the same. It was a lot of information to sort through. I wish we had an actually reasonable amount of time for an investigation.

And as always, I feel exactly the same. You've done plenty for my heart just with your company, my friend.

[ uuu... these gestures - weeks later, he's still not quite used to them. he takes the glass from him, smiling softly, though there's an obvious tiredness to it, today. ] Thank you.

[ he looks down at his wineglass, swirling it gently just for something to do. ] ...everything gets so hectic, at the end, and these two cases were so tightly intertwined in such odd ways. [ fuckin bruises and sugar and god only knows what else. he closes his eyes briefly, sighs. ] You're precisely right. Though, it is certainly better than how these things are done in the Papal States, it's a failing of a system for the victims, beyond all.

We received such a grim reminder today, that though we have done well to this point, things will slip through the cracks. And...I worry, for what next week may bring, truthfully.

... I think it's a realistic worry.

[ to be honest. yves looks thoughtful about it even as he takes a sip of his own drink ]

.... You know, even Ellie and I would be brought back to earth after things like this. I remember one time when I spoke to her, we admitted we didn't know what to expect but all she told me was... she didn't want people to become afraid of trusting each other. She didn't want them to lose hope, even if something frightening lay ahead.

I think it makes sense in this aftermath for us to lick our wounds and mourn. Feel what strands of anger make sense... but I still don't think we'll be defeated by what's to come.

[ ugh. just hearing this makes his heart ache. he misses ellie, misses her kindness and her warmth, her stories. she loved the world the same way that taair did, the way she found joy in every interaction, every moment. and zhongli, too. wise, kind. someone who offered him a contract like a moment of freedom, whether he could accept it or otherwise.

his brow crumples a little, and he takes a deep breath to compose it, finally taking his first drink, too. ]

She was always so wise. [ there's no short amount of affection in his voice. ] About so many things. I think we are all better for having known her...I wish we had just had a little more time.

Still...we must do our best to honor her wishes - to remember her as if she was still here. Even if things are dark, we must find the dawn, and hold onto hope no matter what. [ weh. ] A fine philosophy from one of the most wonderful storytellers I've had the honor to know.

[ he holds up his glass, off to the side. ]

To hope?

[ taair puts his glass off to the side like a proper fancy toast, and yet yves chases after his glass with his own like some fool who's only used to the rowdiness of bars and drinking parties with friends. clink! ]

To hope!

[ and so he drinks, content with this declaration ]

Everything's going to work out. I do believe that. Weekends are terrible and the heartache is real. It makes sense for everyone to feel that... they ought to. To mourn loss is the real sign that you loved anyone at all.

But I will hold onto my unwavering certainty that some fortunate resolution will come for us all—maybe not easily, but inevitably eventually.

[ oh, but one thousand times over, he would prefer this - the jostle, the brightness, the laughter and warmth of a toast with friends. he spent a few precious afternoons standing in the tavern in convallaria town, soaking in the atmosphere of people living. the cavalier carefreeness of even such a tiny gesture makes taair feel happy.

he takes a long sip of his drink afterwards, smiling down to himself as he basks in the company. after all the failures of today, the heartbreak and failure to come, it's warm, to keep an eye on the future. that's really how yves makes him feel. warm. ]

You and I both, my dear friend. [ the dawn will come, eventually. even in the worst moments. ] We have much work ahead of us, but... I think we'll be alright.

[ even at his death, yves had faith in a better future. did he think that his demise was part of the price needed to be paid? yes. does he want to necessarily go back to that same island? not really. but here, among all these people, it's even easier to hold onto hope. they are not yet in the stage of ruins. as much as he can try, he'll make sure they'll never be.

so he's content here, sitting with taair and basking in the company of someone dear. his free hand just runs through taair's hair in soothing, repetitive little strokes, letting his fingers ease out any small tangle after the day's events ]

Make sure to closely record the history of our victory, alright? I'll be relying on your insight.

Haha. I will chronicle every moment of our collective story in ink - of that, you can be assured.

[ it's a story he would've loved to co-write with ellie, really, but... it's like her note said. to remember her will be to be like she never left. if he can infuse her effervescence into the tales of this place, then they will be ones to remember. ]

... I think we will write a wonderful history. It will be full of hardship, but it will be full of kindness, too. Of ordinary people who did extraordinary things for each other - an epic of its own. And... I should like it that I could actually finish one, too.

[ as opposed to his irian book, which is half finished and will likely remain that way, no matter what awaits him. but this place does feel as though it could have a bookend, and even more so, it feels as if it could have a happy ending - or at least, the hope for one.

even still... reflecting on this week of memories, he thinks for a moment of yves; of the way the people cared for dwindled, and dwindled. of how a loss like today's must have hit him, even in moments of warm, reflective hope. taair falls quiet for a moment as the laughter fades, and... unconsciously, he leans a little against yves, like a tiny bird pressing up against a cheek to say hello. ]

...Tell me some good things that happened to you this week, my dear friend. Anything at all.

[ automatically, yves adjusts to make that lean a little bit comfier for taair. it's so natural for him to react to others and try to make himself softer for them. his fingers continue to run through taair's hair at the question, and he hums thoughtfully.... ]

.... Ellie had a very sweet entry in her book for Adolphe. Some part of me does hope that all the souls go to the same place, because I think her friendship would be good for him. And if one day I get to plan their wedding, I'd be the happiest.

[ that's his otp and has been since week 0 not sorry about it

but.... ]

.... She also recorded something that I'd never heard him say before. Something sweet, probably never intended for me to hear.

That was something good, even if everything else today was difficult. Something to let me remember how much I love and miss my best friend, and... how much he loved me too, even if he was awkward at saying so. I never doubted it for a second but...

I appreciated the chance to understand just a little bit better.

[ he's so fucking valid for that they were so cute (also adellie is the cutest ship name ever)

ooh. he listens to this and it just warms his whole heart to hear it. it's nice to think about their lost souls as lost, not gone forever - so the fact that perhaps they could be reunited now is sweet. and for yves, who so deeply cherishes his friendship with adolphe, to get a little something small as a reminder of someone he's lost and lost...

while he has no doubts that yves will carry on, because he is simply yves, it's so good to hear him connect with those positives here, too. in the worst of things, there is hope, and hearing it heartens taair, too.

he'll take that lead of conversation easily, stepping into the thought of what could come after, when that story is written to the end. of the future. ellie said to remember her like she never left. fidelio taught him to mourn with joy and celebration. it relaxes him just a little further, and he smiles down into his glass. ]

I hope you get to. [ plan their wedding. ] I am sure you will give a speech there that will be most heartfelt, that would embarrass Adolphe from head to toe, and it will be beautiful. I can see it already - there won't be a dry eye in the house.

What would you want it to be like? The wedding. Tell me about it.

[ oh man his wedding planning he's been waiting for this moment - he laughs immediately ]

Well, I'd want it to be whatever Ellie wants! Adolphe has a tendency to concede to anything you want once he loves you, after all. I'm sure she'd want something where everyone she loves is there—and Adolphe, even if he'd prefer something quiet, would want her to know that she's well-loved.

So something where she's the most beautiful bride that you've ever seen. Stunning, brilliant, and the happiest she's been in centuries. Flowers as far as the eye can see, to celebrate the girl as beautiful as dancing petals.

And for Adolphe, a quiet spot. [ laughs again ] One where I'll give him a peptalk when he starts second-guessing himself, and a bar where he can knock back a glass every time he feels a headache starting to come on from all the rowdiness.

It'd have to be something like that.

pc catchall | turboheaven | yves

week 3, saturday

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