I do not own Tales of Xillia.
(I know there's a tense change. Not good with that.)
Merchant
Sunshine streamed through the open windows, gentle and warm. A light breeze passed through, ruffling the edges of a week-old journal sitting on a cleaned table. On the stove, rose jam was lightly giving off fragrance.
They had just finished lunch and were lazily reading on the couch—him, a report, her, the newspaper—when Alvin casually brought it up. He had waited until after lunch for this precise purpose.
"You know how I take those business trips?"
"Mmm," murmured Leia, frowning at an article.
"You know how they're pretty important?"
"Mmm."
Alvin stretched and put down the report on the coffee table. The sun was making their apartment pleasantly warm, his belly was full, and he had the prettiest girl on both worlds cursing at stupid journalists. Ah, he would miss it.
"I have to go on one soon."
For the first time since they had cleared up the soda rice, Leia looked up at him. "Huh?" she said intelligently.
Alvin, pleased now that he had her attention, tapped the report. "Duty calls. Yurgen needs me at Kanablar by next week; you know how Gaius is. Yurgen thinks if I'm there, we'd have a better chance to convince him to begin trade with Elympios."
"Then just write a letter reminding him of all the stupid stuff he made us go through and that he owes you one." Leia turned back to the newspaper, but her eyes weren't moving with the letters.
Alvin laughed. "I wish you were a partner. But you know we can't do that." He gently turned her to him and she rested her forehead on his.
"Sure you can. I'll even do it for you."
They lightly argued back and forth before Leia sighed and dropped the Trigleph Daily on the floor. "Fine," she grumbled. "But you better get back to me soon."
It was the first trip he was going on since they started dating and it made it worse. Alvin grimaced. "Well."
Leia closed her eyes. "More than a few days?"
"Three months, max."
His girlfriend opened her eyes again. As usual, he was drawn by her eyes. "You better be joking. How can you trust me at home with all my suitors lining up at the door?"
He chuckled and she almost smiled, obviously joking. On the other hand, a darker part of Alvin thought, there were quite a few people who eyed her appreciatively and didn't think mana lobes were a bad idea to have in their lineage.
(And they were closer to her age.)
In the end, she grudgingly gave him her blessing, as they both knew she would. After all, Leia wouldn't want him interfering with her writing and didn't believe in holding people back.
For dinner, which was a truce, they had more soda rice and Alvin may or may not have gotten tipsy with Ex Machina and all its alcoholic glory.
(Which explained why he woke up smelling like rose jam and no idea why. Leia laughed about it, though.)
In two days his luggage had been packed, his lips thoroughly kissed, and he was off to Kanablar via boat from Fenmont.
Somehow he isn't very surprised when Leia pops out of a barrel and says, "So I decided to stow away and come with you!"
(She has a paid ticket.)