Fandom FFX: Summoner's Pilgrimage [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

It wasn’t what Ari expected to hear from Dorean at all, even though he was a laid-back Guardian. He was still a Guardian. Yevon’s teachings seemed to forbid all thought of machina and a future with it – it was a terrible thing that brought Sin around in the first place, from what Ari understood. Yet to hear it from Dorean, that the future could have machina?

His smile grew.

He knew his sister wanted that optimism, but she never found it in herself to be so enthusiastic about it. “They probably can’t ignore two Guardians who want machina around, huh?” Ari asked, tilting his head a bit. “When we come back from beating Sin,” two Guardians, no Summoner. Still hard to swallow. Still hard to believe, as well, given the history he knew.

“If Guardians think it’s okay, it’s gotta be okay….”

At least, that was how the mindset of people would work, and the smile stayed, even if it threatened to turn down at Dorean trying to promise that this time, Sin would be gone for good. This time, it would be okay.

“I hope you’re right.” But he was the actual Guardian, right? “I’m gonna hold you accountable if Sin comes back,” it was a light tease, because he knew Dorean couldn’t promise that sort of thing. “I will haunt you through the Farplane, or whatever.”

 

[torakiji]

"Prob'ly not," Dorean shrugged.

The truth was, while he was trained quite intensely under Yevon's teaches, and was devoted to much of their principles, this was one that always intrigued him. They didn't necessarily have to mechanize everything, but to be able to at least improve travel between cities, wouldn't it make life so much easier? He thought so...

And, it seemed, he wasn't the only one.

But, they did have bigger problems to face than the potential of pissing off devout followers of Yevon. They had Sin to deal with first, and that was more important than advancement of their society. How could they advance it when such a calamity threatened to destroy all of it in one fell swoop? They had to stay focused, even if their ideas were grand and just.

At Ari's playful threat, Dorean snorted, sipping his ale. "Yeah, all right. I suppose that'd be warranted," he mused. "Just don't mess up my hair or my sword, all right?"

 

[Lucyfer]

“You fool, you’ve told me your weaknesses,” Ari couldn’t help but state when Dorean told him what not to target. He was tempted to lean forward and reach for Dorean’s hair right then, but he wasn’t that drunk. Drunk enough to have the thought, sober enough not to act on it. Or maybe concerned he’d fall off the boxes and embarrass himself more than achieve his end. “Now I know exactly what to do if Sin comes back and I have to haunt you.”

Although if he thought about it, the form of ‘haunting’ would end up being as a fiend, and that was…not what he wanted to do. Probably, anyways.

“How long is your hair, anyways?” It was held up, but Ari was pretty sure it was longer than his sisters. “You must use a lot of conditioner or something on it. More than me – and I use a lot,” bleaching his hair constantly killed it, even though it was kept so short.

He was probably going to have visible black roots before this journey was over.

He was still hoping they might stay in Luca or Bevelle or some sort of civilized place long enough for him to get it touched up. A foolish, vain thing, but…well, he had to cling to some small normals. Focusing on the end, constantly, was just too much.

 

[torakiji]

"Ah!" Dorean exclaimed in mock fear, for he realized his mistake. "Curses! I have indeed unveiled myself to you. Now I will truly be haunted with haircuts by way of my sword! How tragic!" And, of course, he laughed, as the alcohol settled warmly on his cheeks. He was grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying his time here with Ari, and the jokes they were passing back and forth.

How could he not, when it was so easy to just... get along with this guy?

Blinking, he sat straight and reached back to pull the long ponytail forwards. Draped over his shoulder like this, it appeared shorter with it sitting at level with his hipbone. He always had to fluff it out when he sat down, lest he actually sit on his hair. "It's about mid-thigh, I think?" he muttered. "I haven't measured it in a while, but I have to be careful not to sit on it. I've yanked my own head and given myself whiplash a couple of times doing that."

Still, he shrugged, running his fingers through the ponytail before flipping it back over his shoulder. "It requires a lot of conditioner, yeah. There's a whole damn routine to maintaining this length of hair, if you can believe that. Dunno if I'll be able to indulge on this journey, because who knows how often we'll be able to bathe, but yeah. It's pretty extensive." Using his cup, he gestured towards Ari. "Though, you probably get that. You dye yours, yeah?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari would indeed do such terrible things, if he had reason to haunt someone – but this was all in jest, so he was able to laugh along with Dorean’s mock fear, before the man seemed momentarily startled.

He watched as the hair was brought forward, and his brows went high as he stated mid-thigh. “By the fayth is that long!” Ari exclaimed. Given, his sister’s hair was long, too, but this was still impressive, even by female standards. “I can definitely believe it has an entire routine around it, sheesh. My hair probably doesn’t take that much.”

He ran his fingers up through his hair to demonstrate the ease, as if messing up the short strands and settling them proved much. That hand fell back into his lap before he finished off his second cup, and opted to open the jug again. He was fairly impressed by how much was in the jug, really.

“Yeah. I have black hair naturally, you can probably tell,” he didn’t dye his eyebrows. White eyebrows would probably make them become nearly invisible. “I’m still debating if I’ll want to just cut it down when the roots start showing, or live with it,” he shrugged, “We’ll see.” He obviously liked his hair.

And vanity didn’t have a place on this journey.

But…well, if he was going to save the world, he still wanted to feel like a badass when he did it. “I’m sure we’ll go by enough rivers, or whatever. We gotta stay by water sources, right?” Or Ari could just get better at water magic, he supposed. He was still much more partial to lightning. Water was, by default, his worst element.

 

[torakiji]

"The routine involves massaging the scalp and basically having to sit over a tub to wash and drain it all out, since you can't get to the bottom of it by just washing your head, you know?" Dorean informed matter-of-factly, his finger pointed upwards. "You can't bundle it all up on your head cause it'd tangle all to hell, and then good luck brushing that out. As much as I love my hair, I would sooner shave my head than do that."

Who'd have thought a dude would be going off about hair routines? Luckily, it wasn't a sexist thing for men to have long hair, it was just incredibly uncommon.

Watching as Ari ran his hand through his hair, then easily restyled it, Dorean just marvelled at the simplicity of the technique. Likely from the dying, but also product, that kept his hair pliable in that way. "Man, it's probably so simple styling it when you got serious bed-head." As he said this, he noticed his cup was also nearing empty. He took back the last of it in a final swig, then waited patiently as Ari poured his own glass before getting to his own. "In a way, I kinda envy that, but I wouldn't get rid of my hair anyways. Do you not like your natural hair colour?"

It was a simple question, but worth asking, since Ari was bringing up the fact about roots. It couldn't be that bad, could it? Dorean low-key actually wanted to see this, but naturally, he said nothing on that and took another sip of his drink.

"Or, we could solve the problem with some water magic?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Though Ari didn’t know from experience, what Dorean was saying made enough sense, so he had nodded along with it. It had to take forever to dry! Ari couldn’t imagine waiting for it all to dry, it took long enough with his sister, though admittedly, he sometimes helped with that. He could probably help with Dorean, too.

Ari smirked a bit at that comment about bed-head. He wouldn’t note that sometimes he just left it at that. The unkempt look sometimes looked really good. He’d definitely gotten his fair share of compliments for that ‘style’. He never had the heart to tell them he woke up like that.

“I like it fine,” Ari shrugged, “I just prefer the white. I’m sure one day I would have gone back to black for a bit. Maybe blue. Always thought I’d look good with a dark blue,” he screwed his eyes upwards as if he could see his hair that way. As if it would help him to imagine it. “Maybe one day.”

Maybe he’d just dye it that in Bevelle, before they got onto the final part of their journey. Just in case there wasn’t a ‘one day’.

“If I ever get that good with water magic, maybe,” Ari said, and held out his free hand a moment, “Lightning is where it’s at, I can do that without thinking, but water, that’s just….” He considered calling it forth, but realized where he was, and quickly shook out his hand and lowered it back to his lap, “Maaaaybe not a good idea to try it in an enclosed space on a boat,” he laughed. “I think my natural affinity for lightning makes me suck at water.”

 

[torakiji]

Honestly, if Dorean could have imagined his initial interactions with his new comrades, it wouldn't have included this talk about hair. However, he was so utterly grateful for it, and was even enjoying it, to the point that he was divulging some of his care secrets in order to show what sort of love he put into it.

"Blue would look badass," he grinned, lifting his cup and taking a big swig of the ale. The more it was settling in his belly, the more warm he could feel his ears getting. It was a comforting feeling, not to mention a great ice breaker. Clearly, he and Ari were getting along just fine, and that meant good things if they were to be going on this long winded journey together to stop Sin.

"You should do something lighter, too, like green or something. That'd be totally awesome!"

To prospect of having some sort of magical element summoned here on this boat was a little nerve wracking, considering, well... they were in the middle of open waters. If they sunk, that'd be honestly the worst, and probably the fastest ending pilgrimage ever. "I'd be grateful if you didn't," Dorean chuckled, waving a hand out slightly in front of him. "It takes practice, don't it? To be a great mage means you gotta get good at all the magic! At least, the magic in your scope."

Or something.

He couldn't wield magic, so he had no idea.

Leaning back, Dorean felt rosy as he leaned his cheek into the palm of his hand, cup slightly raised. "So. Now that you've gotten to know me a little bit, whaddya think?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari let his nose wrinkle at the thought of green, and he vehemently shook his head, “Uh uh, no, not green,” not that green was a bad color, but with his complexion, and the colors he liked to wear? He couldn’t imagine pulling it off without being annoyed with himself, often. “I can’t pull off green, no way,” okay, maybe green wouldn’t actually clash with black and silver, but still.

He’d been told he should do a myriad of colors in his time, though. “Maybe if I get to 80,” he said, a false compromise.

He did nod along to the comment about practice. It definitely required it. Thankfully, he came from a mother who was pretty good at it, and his sister had always helped him, too. He never wanted to be stuck in the role, or fall into the “squishy mage” stereotype, so he knew he wasn’t as great as some.

He hadn’t dedicated his life to it, “Yeah, it does. And I’ll get better!” As if it was any concern. It probably should be. “And so far you’re chill. Anyone who cares about their hair that much is good people – they’re probably gonna put a lot of care into other things that others would think is frivolous but I’m okay with that. Caring’s good.”

About yourself. About others. About anything. “And you ain’t got a stick up your ass. Or seem too narci…narcississsistic about it,” the word muddled itself on his tongue. How strong was this? He was hardly aware of the own heat that had flushed his body.

Of course, with his size, he also wasn’t used to actually getting that drunk, either.

 

[torakiji]

"You totally could pull off green!" Dorean insisted, leaning forward a bit as if that would further convince Ari of his plight. There was no way, of course, that he would actually push something like that onto his new companion. If the guy didn't want green, then so be it, but he'd at least make it known what he thought about the matter.

"Or, you could do a whole ass rainbow." Now that would be a sight to see, and the mere thought of it had him chuckling. He raised his cup. "Either way. You do you, my friend, and cheers to that."

Dorean liked to think he was a good caregiver, even if he hadn't actual experience in doing so. It wasn't like he had a younger siblings, but he did have friends growing up that were a couple years younger than him. Not that it was the same thing, but it still had to count for something, right? Regardless, he considered it a bonus that he was in the good books with Ari, because he'd gotten the feeling that the guy had been sizing him up this whole time to make sure he was the proper Guardian for his sister.

It all made sense, really.

Snorting at the trip-up, Dorean smirked from ear to ear. "You having trouble there? You can't seem to say that word very well..."

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari gave his own huff and rolled his eyes, “No, it’s just got a lot of s’s in it. Annoying word,” he tried to shrug it off as if he hadn’t made an utter fool of himself. “You know what I mean, anyways.” He hoped, “You’re not some stuck up prat in this for the glory.” He was there because he cared about the world, and wanted to do what he could to save it.

That was enough for Ari.

And if they developed a good relationship along the way, he’d consider that a bonus, too. It would be nice to do this with people he also cared about, rather than just a compassionate stranger. He didn’t think that was going to be much of an issue, though.

Dorean cared about his hair, he thought machina was possible, now all Ari had to do was convince him to like Blitzball. He didn’t know how hard that would be, but it was at least worth a shot, down the line.

He was taken away from asking about that by the appearance of Kyra in the doorway. They probably should have shut that. “What are you two drinking?” Both amusement and exasperation touched her tone. They had been together less than a day, and already Ari had talked Dorean into drinking with him.

This was going to be an interesting trip. “Some kinda ale,” Ari answered, “Want some?” He knew the answer.

She shook her head, “No, thank you. Your room too small for the pair of you?” She found it strange they were in a storage room.

“No window,” Ari said, as if that was complete justification for the choice, pointing towards it with his cup.

 

[torakiji]

"I hardly think this is something that should be glorified," Dorean agreed.

If people thought that this sort of journey was meant to improve one's name, or to make them look good, then they really shouldn't be doing it at all. Shouldn't even be a Guardian. The truth of the matter is that this journey royally sucked, simply for the fact that someone had to die at the end of it. It wasn't going to be a piece of cake, especially when he grew to care for Kyra much like he was starting to for Ari.

This wasn't for fun and games. People's lives were at stake, and he wasn't about to call that glory upon his name. It was too tragic.

As he was taking another sip of the ale, Kyra appeared in his peripherals. She stood in the doorway, looking equally amused and annoyed. He didn't quite expect any visitors, but it wasn't as if they had closed the door off to anyone. It was wide open and therefore it left them exposed to the deed they were conducting: bonding over booze! What fun!

"It's definitely brighter in here," Dorean grinned up at Kyra, gesturing to her with his cup. "Why don't you come join us? Don't have to drink, of course."

 

[Lucyfer]

Kyra had come down to check on their progress, since last she left them, they’d been busy reorganizing Ari’s room as much as they could to accommodate their additional passenger. It seemed they had managed that – or given up and were drinking away their sorrows, though that seemed highly unlikely.

It was just a bit unusual not to see Ari above with her – but bonding with the new guardian was a good enough reason for that.

He would need someone after all was said and done.

Kyra chuckled a little but stepped in to find a space, “I suppose I can spend a bit of time here with you two.” It wasn’t as if she was going to spend the rest of her life with them. Well, she needed to get to know Dorean better, too. She was glad he was already getting on well with Ari, though.

“He’s just as obsessed with his hair,” Ari pointed out immediately, as if this were the most critical fact. “Whole regimen. Deep conditioning. The works.”

“Really now?” Kyra allowed the amusement to linger in her tone, “Now you just have to convince him to dye it, don’t you?”

“Don’t ruin the plans! That was gonna be a secret so he wouldn’t suspect anything yet!”

 

[torakiji]

Maybe it wasn't so nice to hang around with two dudes that were slowly working their way to happy oblivion, but Dorean didn't think Kyra minded too much when they were still relatively coherent. He was only guessing, though, since he didn't actually know her that well. It seemed, though, that she was inclined to join them, even just for a short while, and that had him brightening considerably.

"Welcome to the party, then!" he beamed, arms opening in a sort of welcoming gesture. The room wasn't the homiest of places, or the most comfortable, but hey - at least they had a window.

Looking between the siblings now, Dorean couldn't help but snort at Ari's comment. "Yeah, good luck dyeing these locks," he said, running his fingers through the length of it rather casually. "It'd take hours, for one, and for two, well... my hair is nice the way it is! Virgin hair, too. Never been dyed."

It was a fact he was rather proud of, actually, and he even sat a little straighter, his chest puffed in a mocking sort of way. To add to it, he tipped his chin up rather obnoxiously, had a sip of his ale, then relaxed and laughed a little bit. Then, he slouched back, leaning his arm up against one of the boxes. Dark blue eyes fell onto Kyra, curiously, as he propped his cup on his knee. "I take it you're pretty used to this sort of stuff, hey?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Kyra smiled at the welcome easily enough, and was amused by the response from Dorean. More or less what she expected – she was pretty sure his hair had never been touched by harsh chemicals just at a glance, not even the kind of water in the Blitzdome. Ari was never going to get him to dye it.

But Ari laughed along with his show of defiance, “Yeah, we’ll see!” He accepted the challenge, “You were talking about maybe cutting it as this goes on, so maybe cutting it leads to maybe dying it.” It was always a possibility. Although, he suspected it probably wouldn't happen, just like the cutting of Dorean's hair wouldn't happen. Still, he had to have goals, right? Besides the whole Sin thing. And his sister was already a lost cause for dying her hair.

Kyra gave a nod to the question thrown her way, “Oh yes, my father was much the same,” Ari took after him a lot, which wasn’t a surprise. He ran in the same crowds and liked the same sorts of things, after all. “Not the obsessive hair dying, but this,” gregarious attitude, drinking, all of that was normal was to her.

Ari looked mock offended, “Hey, hey, I am nothing like dad!” He said, “I’m cooler!”

 

[torakiji]

"Man, could you imagine?" Dorean mused, throwing his head back a little in laughter once again. "What would happen if I dyed my hair like, bright white or some shit? You wouldn't be able to recognize me in battle. That might be troublesome for me, now wouldn't it? I might accidentally be struck by a whim of magic in your confusion."

Of course, this was all hearsay and quite unlikely, but it was funny to think about. Especially if he ever did dye his hair and go for something as drastic as that. He reckoned it wouldn't bode well for him at all.

Plus. he quite liked his dark and handsome features.

Snorting now, he sipped on his ale, amused by the sibling teasings he had never enjoyed in his life. It was rather amusing, if he was being honest. "If by cooler, you mean way stylish, then yeah," he agreed. "I recall your father having some pretty wild hair though, too."

 

[Lucyfer]

Naturally, both siblings did try to imagine Dorean without his long, dark hair. Kyra had to cant her head, while Ari just squinted, and laughed, shaking his head a bit, “I don’t think white suits you,” or maybe he just wanted the monopoly on white. Or perhaps, reverse psychology. One couldn’t be certain.

Ari wasn’t even certain as he got to half of his third cup.

Ari almost snorted as the comment about his father came up, “You might be thinking of someone else,” he said, “My dad was lame. Never dyed his hair, always had that mop of red hair on his head, and it was always a mess.”

Okay, that wasn’t true, it was always red, but it was usually fairly well styled. Even in the water, “Though he did at least introduce me to some great water-resistant product,” he mused. “And eyeliner.”

“By the fayth, the eyeliner,” Kyra hadn’t thought of that in a while and laughed, recalling it, “He was probably the most stylish when he was playing,” she admitted, “he had a lot of secrets for water-resistant products and making them even stronger.”

 

[torakiji]

Dorean couldn't help it. He almost burst right out laughing at the sight of their expressions, but merely kept it to a contained - although somewhat loud - chuckle. The alcohol was already getting to his head, which was a clear testament to the last time he'd drank. That had to be quite a few years now, if he recalled...

Either way. Their faces were hilarious.

As the topic moved onto their father, the Guardian listened with intent as he neared the bottom of his third cup. "I probably am, then," he said, scratching his head a little. "That description doesn't sound at all like what I'm picturing..." Why was he picturing a fellow with wild hair? Where was that even coming from? Was he just making people up? That was possible, with the alcohol setting in.

"Wait - eyeliner?" Dorean blinked out of his reverie. "... He wore eyeliner? What? I need to hear more about this... Ari, don't tell me you got all up in this fashion business, too?"

 

[Lucyfer]

“There’s a lot of Blitzers – and the Goers are some of the, er, more outrageous,” Ari said, as if that would help him to accept that he’d been mistaken about Grava. The Goers stood out. The purple uniform didn’t help matters, really.

“What do you mean got all up in it?” Ari straightened -- well, attempted to. He was relaxing again a few moments later.

“He wears eyeliner.” Kyra confirmed. “He’s just lazy so he doesn’t wear it often.”

“I mean, yeah. It makes me look great, but also it’s a hassle to remove, and then I sleep in it, and then it’s a mess, and ugh,” he groaned. “You wear it, too!”

“I didn’t say I didn’t,” Kyra said, “Just pointing out you know fashion, you’re just lazy about make-up.”

“Yeaaaah…it’s also why I keep my hair short. Easier to deal with,” as he’d proven earlier. “But yeah, I know a lot about different products for all kinds of things,” he waved it off as if it were nothing. He hadn’t packed any of that kind of stuff for the journey. It wasn’t really necessary. It wasn’t like he was planning to fight Sin with eyeliner on or anything. “But yeah, that was my dad’s thing.”

“It was the cause of a lot of scandals,” Kyra chuckled, “since he’d get so much attention from female fans for his looks – mostly them wanting to know how to do it, and what he used.”

“At least, we hope.” Ari shrugged.

Their parents never separated. There was never any proof of any misconduct, but, well, they couldn’t be certain.

 

[torakiji]

Impressed, Dorean nodded his head. "Well, it makes sense that you're well versed in fashion tips, Ari. If a dude like you takes pride in his hair like you do, then of course he'd do other things to maintain a well kept appearance."

And it definitely showed, though he very much was curious about this whole eyeliner thing. He kind of wanted to see it for himself.

"I'm glad you were able to hold onto something like that, though," Dorean smiled, sipping his ale. "It may have been your dad's thing, but at least you can carry it on with pride, knowing where it came from, regardless of whatever reputation it's held over the years. It's something to remember him by, right?" A sentimental thought, but a genuine one all the same.

Memory to remember someone by. Subconsciously, he twirled the ring in his pocket, eventually pulling it out so he could look at it. "We all have something we can remember them by."

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari gave a shrug, lifting both hands, before faltering forward a bit. He was quick to catch himself by putting a hand down on the box, but he couldn’t ignore the look Kyra passed him. He opted not to refill his drink, even though his cup was nearly empty. “This is stronger than I expected,” he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

Not that he was watching his volume terribly. He wasn't aware he was still speaking a bit louder than normal.

“Yeah – it is nice to have it,” he said, and saw the ring come out again. This time, he would ask, “Who did that ring belong to?” he was going to guess it probably wasn’t his dad, so maybe his mother? A significant other? He wasn’t sure, but he did want the answer.

Now seemed as good a time as any since they were a bit more comfortable.

Kyra wouldn’t speak up – no need to, Ari had already asked the question, and she was curious for that same answer, too.

 

[torakiji]

Ari wobbling about reminded Dorean that he was on probably his fourth drink, and he was definitely starting to feel the effects of it. Probably why he was laughing so much, even though he generally laughed a lot to begin with. He was a jovial fellow, and the drink just amplified that, more often than not.

It was never full proof in getting rid of his feelings, though, as evident when he slowly pulled the ring out, for a sort of gloss momentarily went over his eyes. That sensation only lasted a couple seconds, for he was quickly distracted by Ari and his question, which caused him to lift his head and meet the curious gazes across from him.

"Oh," he said, holding it out in his palm so they could see it a little more clearly. "It was my ma's wedding ring. She wore it right up until she died, and it was the only thing I could save of her's during Sin's attack." He was smiling fondly now as he looked down at the piece of jewelry. "Even after all those years, she was still so dedicated to my dad. Never remarried or anything. She just... kept it on, all the time."

Leaning forward now, he rested his elbows on his knees as he glanced up at the siblings again, more whimsical now than before. "I think, one day, I'd like to have a love like that."

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Aaaah.’ Ari wasn’t surprised by the owner, though it certainly made him melancholy in spite of the situation. Remembering that Kyra hadn’t been around, he said for her sake, “His dad’s a warrior – didn’t return much,” that was why he didn’t have a sibling. He wouldn’t dare say that Dorean’s dad could be dead. That wasn’t known, was it? Maybe he’d meet him again one day and have a happy reunion.

“Oh,” Kyra nodded, taking that in, “That is loyalty,” and if his father was still out there, hopefully he was being loyal, too. “I’m sure you’ll find someone, one day,” Kyra offered to Dorean.

“Yeah! Just make sure I get an invite to the wedding,” Ari added, “After this, I’m sure finding a partner won’t be too hard – you’ll have Guardian credentials.” He said it, of course – but it hurt, a little, with Kyra right there, to make plans for the future she wouldn’t be a part of. Unless some other Summoner succeeded.

Did she show any sorrow for it, though?

No, of course not. She laughed right along with the thought of ‘Guardian Credentials’, “That’s right!” That was how it should be, “How did your parents meet? Or do you know?” she asked, canting her head once more in curiosity.

 

[torakiji]

"Was a warrior," Dorean corrected, offering the siblings a bit of a sad smile. "He died a long time ago, when I was too little to really remember him as a person, although my ma described him quite often so my image of him is quite clear." At least, that was what he'd been told - that his father had passed away as a great warrior of sorts. Everyone that survived the attack on Kilika remembered him as such, so it was a positive memory to hold onto and strive towards.

"He's someone I strive to be like, though. He's a name that will not be forgotten for a long time, I think." At this, he was practically beaming, the pride radiating from his every being.

Or, maybe it was the booze amplifying that. Whatever.

Ari's proposal for being a man of "Guardian Credentials" had Dorean snorting in amusement. "I highly doubt that is something I can stick on my resume for flirting, Ari," he mused, though it was a funny idea, to be certain. "I'd like to think that I have really good qualities outside of that." Which had him thinking about his own parents, and thankfully, Kyra seemed to somehow be reading his mind.

Shrugging, he said, "I think my dad had been passing through town when he met my ma at the local pub. She was a barmaid there, and I guess he just kept extending his trip so he could come back and visit her."

 

[Lucyfer]

“Oh. My bad.” Ari hadn’t caught on to the ‘dead’ part before. Now he felt bad for even thinking there could be a reunion. He hadn’t said that out loud though, right? Ari wondered how he died. If it had been something epic, like facing off against a malboro or behemoth. He’d heard of fiends like those, but never met one. He didn’t want to, either.

Not really.

“Hey, you’d be surprised what saying ‘I’m a blitzball player’ has done for me!” Ari said with a laugh as Dorean downplayed the thought of the Guardian working, “I mean, yeah, we both have other credentials, but you gotta get your foot in the door somehow.”

“A simple ‘hello’ can work just fine, too,” Kyra resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the elaborate schemes people sometimes created just to introduce themselves. “Your dad’s scheme seems like it worked out well, though,” not an exciting story, but a simple one of a man passing through who found something worth stopping for.

“What were their names?” Kyra asked.

If Dorean’s father had a name worth remembering, and his mother a love that was so pure, it would be good to know their names.