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Tales of Vesperia, drabbles (i)
Some 100-word drabbles that I wrote for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tales_100, collected here. All Tales of Vesperia.
Perspective (Alexei: rejuvenate)
Once, when he needed a reminder of what he fought for, he simply went to the Lower Quarter and sat by the side of the road, watching people go past; argue with friends and oppressors; drink from their public fountain; kiss under low-hanging awnings. It helped him focus on what was important, and let him go back to his work with new energy.
Lately Alexei had not had the time to go, nor could the Commandant of the Imperial Knights simply walk into the Lower Quarter and sit on the curb.
Still. He liked to think he kept his perspective.
Rose-Colored Life (Estelle+Rita: catnap)
"Rita!" Estelle called, skipping downstairs. It was springtime in Halure and petals were everywhere, even inside the house, scattering under her feet. "We got a package from Judith! It's a book for you that she found in the ruins of--"
But when she got to the bottom of the stairs into the cool basement laboratory, her steps slowed, and she smiled to herself.
Estelle went back upstairs to find a blanket and bring it back down. She drew it gently over Rita's shoulders, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
The book could wait until she woke.
Remember Your Place (Flynn+Estelle, picnic)
The courtyard had never seen so much life as it did now that Flynn and Estellise went every afternoon for his lunch hour. They didn't eat, only sat and chatted, about everything, their laughter ringing into the high-ceilinged halls. She was the first friend he had made there, in the lonely weeks after Yuri left the knights.
"Tomorrow I will bring lunch from the kitchen," she promised him, eyes bright.
"Are you sure? I could cook something..."
But as Flynn left, he saw the knight standing in the hallway sneer at him; aloof, judging; and slowly his smile faded away.
Lost Opportunities (Alexei: unfinished)
"It should make you happy to have a war to fight," a duke said dismissively, brushing past. "Finally, something useful to do."
Alexei's fingers curled into fists. That was how the Council thought of him: a thug, itching for a fight, without regard for his betters. He barked at their heels not because they were poor masters, but simply out of boredom.
Of course he didn't want to send men off to die on another continent.
But more than that, he feared the nobles would seize upon this distraction -- and he would lose his chance to correct this broken Empire.
No Replacement Needed (Judith+Rita: finding family)
Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she'd been the daughter Hermes wanted. If she'd been better in school, better with sciences and studying. Would she have gone on her quest, then? Would it have been too hard for her? Would she have stopped him before it was too late? Would he have been happier than with a daughter who loved him but couldn't relate to him?
Judith turned her head, watching Rita, sleeping curled on her side, still.
Sometimes she wondered if a little sister would have made them both happier: made a small, broken family complete.
Ideals (Flynn: armor)
He starts out as just a man. Flawed, imperfect, vulnerable; like any other. He wakes up every morning with rumpled hair and clothes, sleepy, with crust in the corners of his eyes.
Then he puts on his sabatons. His greaves, the cuisses. Rerebrace, vambrace, gauntlets.
And then he is a knight. And Flynn looks at himself in the mirror and slowly compartmentalizes all the things that a knight shouldn't be. He has to be flawless. He has to be perfect. He has to be invulnerable.
No one can ever find fault in him.
To change the system, he has to live his armor.
Duty (Ioder: it's settled)
It doesn't bother him, of course. He doesn't let things like that bother him. Even if it's his future, his life, determined on that slip of paper he's about to sign; he doesn't let things like that bother him.
Ioder Algios Heurassein is more than just one man. He is a country. That was the life he decided on long ago.
Still, he wonders what Estellise will think. If her romantic heart would resent being forced to marry. If she is wary of marrying a relation, even a distant one.
He never wanted that life for her.
Giving herself for a country, that is.
tales_100, collected here. All Tales of Vesperia.Perspective (Alexei: rejuvenate)
Once, when he needed a reminder of what he fought for, he simply went to the Lower Quarter and sat by the side of the road, watching people go past; argue with friends and oppressors; drink from their public fountain; kiss under low-hanging awnings. It helped him focus on what was important, and let him go back to his work with new energy.
Lately Alexei had not had the time to go, nor could the Commandant of the Imperial Knights simply walk into the Lower Quarter and sit on the curb.
Still. He liked to think he kept his perspective.
Rose-Colored Life (Estelle+Rita: catnap)
"Rita!" Estelle called, skipping downstairs. It was springtime in Halure and petals were everywhere, even inside the house, scattering under her feet. "We got a package from Judith! It's a book for you that she found in the ruins of--"
But when she got to the bottom of the stairs into the cool basement laboratory, her steps slowed, and she smiled to herself.
Estelle went back upstairs to find a blanket and bring it back down. She drew it gently over Rita's shoulders, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
The book could wait until she woke.
Remember Your Place (Flynn+Estelle, picnic)
The courtyard had never seen so much life as it did now that Flynn and Estellise went every afternoon for his lunch hour. They didn't eat, only sat and chatted, about everything, their laughter ringing into the high-ceilinged halls. She was the first friend he had made there, in the lonely weeks after Yuri left the knights.
"Tomorrow I will bring lunch from the kitchen," she promised him, eyes bright.
"Are you sure? I could cook something..."
But as Flynn left, he saw the knight standing in the hallway sneer at him; aloof, judging; and slowly his smile faded away.
Lost Opportunities (Alexei: unfinished)
"It should make you happy to have a war to fight," a duke said dismissively, brushing past. "Finally, something useful to do."
Alexei's fingers curled into fists. That was how the Council thought of him: a thug, itching for a fight, without regard for his betters. He barked at their heels not because they were poor masters, but simply out of boredom.
Of course he didn't want to send men off to die on another continent.
But more than that, he feared the nobles would seize upon this distraction -- and he would lose his chance to correct this broken Empire.
No Replacement Needed (Judith+Rita: finding family)
Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she'd been the daughter Hermes wanted. If she'd been better in school, better with sciences and studying. Would she have gone on her quest, then? Would it have been too hard for her? Would she have stopped him before it was too late? Would he have been happier than with a daughter who loved him but couldn't relate to him?
Judith turned her head, watching Rita, sleeping curled on her side, still.
Sometimes she wondered if a little sister would have made them both happier: made a small, broken family complete.
Ideals (Flynn: armor)
He starts out as just a man. Flawed, imperfect, vulnerable; like any other. He wakes up every morning with rumpled hair and clothes, sleepy, with crust in the corners of his eyes.
Then he puts on his sabatons. His greaves, the cuisses. Rerebrace, vambrace, gauntlets.
And then he is a knight. And Flynn looks at himself in the mirror and slowly compartmentalizes all the things that a knight shouldn't be. He has to be flawless. He has to be perfect. He has to be invulnerable.
No one can ever find fault in him.
To change the system, he has to live his armor.
Duty (Ioder: it's settled)
It doesn't bother him, of course. He doesn't let things like that bother him. Even if it's his future, his life, determined on that slip of paper he's about to sign; he doesn't let things like that bother him.
Ioder Algios Heurassein is more than just one man. He is a country. That was the life he decided on long ago.
Still, he wonders what Estellise will think. If her romantic heart would resent being forced to marry. If she is wary of marrying a relation, even a distant one.
He never wanted that life for her.
Giving herself for a country, that is.