Richter walked into the room hurriedly and closed the door behind him with a huff, not stopping to chat before plopping himself down on the chair in front of the mirror. Aster's head jolted up quickly to see who had entered and furrowed his brows at his roommate's behaviour.
"Everything alright?" he enquired.
Not receiving a reply, he noticed that the redhead had pulled out a an old cape from the inside of his coat. He draped it over his shoulders and it gently cascaded down to the floor behind him.
"Could you cut my hair, Aster?" he asked in a tone that made the question seem more like an order than a query.
"Uh, sure," the blonde replied. He made his way over to Richter and stood behind him. "Any reason that it's so urgent?"
"The director says that it's too long to be safe in this sort of working environment. I need it done before the festival or I will face punishment." He sighed somewhat agitatedly, pushing his glasses up with a slight grimace. "Please just get it over with."
Aster smiled reassuringly, eyes soft. He now understood why Richter was behaving that way: his hair was very symbolic for him, and he hated cutting it. Apparently, everyone in his family let theirs grow all their lives, and it served as a way to keep them alive by carrying on their family tradition. The blonde nodded slowly. "How short?"
He wordlessly gestured to a spot roughly at the middle of his back.
"Well, it's not too much, at least," Aster commented lightly in an attempt to cheer up his friend. Richter did nought but shrug tiredly, looking to a spot on the wall to his left to avoid his own gaze. The blonde took the hint and bent down slightly to pick up the pair of scissors stored in one of the drawers of the dresser. He rose and tapped the redhead lightly on the shoulder to rouse him back to Earth, giggling at the way he jolted and quickly put his hand back where it had been before. After having memorized the length, he nodded and the arm went to rest on the other's lap.
Aster went down on one knee, took some fiery strands between his first two fingers and began to cut away delicately at them with his other hand. He could feel the other tense before him due to his actions, to which he frowned but did not stop. He wished that he could be more careful and take more time with the process so that it at least look good, but there wasn't enough time. The pieces rolled down the black cloth and tumbled to the floor, seeming to wilt as they did so. As he took another section of hair between his frail digits, he heard Richter mumble, "Thank you."
He smiled slightly, not taking his eyes away from his work. "It's not a problem," he said. "I'm sorry that you have to do this, though. I know how important it is to you."
"Yeah," he replied dejectedly. He paused for a little while, just listening to the quiet, almost soothing snipping that filled the otherwise silent room. "But it's alright; I suppose he has a point. It could be dangerous to have it so long."
"Ah, don't give up yet! You could always just tuck it into your coat or tie it up or something, right? Tell you what: I'll talk to the director tomorrow, alright? He seems to like me well enough to at least consider it." He chuckled, a sound like bells ringing.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "You don't have to do that for me, Aster; really, it's fine."
"Don't worry about it. You're my friend! I can't guarantee any results, but there's no harm in trying, right?"
His roommate seemed almost shocked at the casual use of the word "friend"; it seemed almost foreign to him, and it broke the blonde's heart. He could have sworn he saw the other smile in what he could see of the mirror- it was the most graceful, pure thing he had ever seen. "Thanks, Aster," he repeated, tone considerably lighter.
Aster grinned broadly. "You're welcome, Richter." He stopped to take the locks he had accidentally let slip out between his fingers again and continued working. The silence between them was comfortable, and the redhead seemed to radiate happiness, though the blonde knew that he was not one to display his emotions.
When he finished, he stood up, brushing the red strands off of his pant legs. "Well, have a look!"
Richter slowly rose from the chair and backed away from the mirror. Aster held up a smaller piece of glass he had stored in his pocket before his friend so that he could look behind himself. The redhead nodded and his lip curled very slightly, but his emerald eyes held a tint of sadness.
His roommate gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "It'll grow back." He lowered the mirror and walked to the dresser to set it down on its counter. "So, do you to try tying it up?"
The redhead replied with a quick "Sure" and Aster took a plain hair tie from another drawer, handing it to the other gingerly. As the other worked, he noticed just how lovely the other's hair truly was- it was a deep, almost mesmerizing crimson that shone brilliantly in the scarce light of the moon, like fire. Aster flinched when he heard Richter say "Something wrong?"; he hadn't realized that he had been staring the whole time. He looked to his feet out of sheer embarrassment, not wanting to make eye contact after that.
Moments later, he was done, and Aster returned his gaze to his friend. He looked very refined with his hair back- almost older- but he quickly took note of the fact that his ears were covered almost awkwardly with strands of hair haphazardly taken out of the ponytail to drape over them. Without realizing what he was doing, he stepped forward and began to tuck them back, but he was quickly stopped by a firm hand at his wrist and a wince that seemed to come from a frightened animal.
"What is it, Richter?" he queried. "It looks messy like that. Why are you covering your ears?" Upon reflection, the redhead always kept them hidden, and would become either defensive or hostile whenever people asked about his strange habit.
The hand tightly gripping him began to quiver and he began to stutter. "I-it's nothing, Aster, I'm fine-"
"Evidently, you're not," the blonde observed, tone stern. He took a deep breath and continued in a serene voice, "Please, Richter. Just let me see."
The redhead clenched his other hand in a weak fist and he looked towards the floor. He exhaled shakily and released Aster. As his ear was unveiled, he rested his face in his palms and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable; however, to his surprise, there was no gasp, no shriek, no beating. He peeked over his thumb at Aster's calm face.
It was significantly longer than the average human ear and had a sharp point at the end of it. The cartilage was pressed towards Richter's head in a way that didn't seem natural- the blonde wondered if he had forced it to be like that via binding. Numerous piercings adorned it, and the faint, flickering light of the lamp gave them an angelic glow.
There was no mistaking it: Richter was a half-elf.
"People had been telling me that you had some 'dirty secret'; is this it?"Aster asked as if enquiring about the weather.
His brows furrowed and he removed his face from his hands. "How are you so calm about this?" he fretted as if Aster had spawned a second head. "Don't you know about the Desians? Don't you hate them? Don't you hate half-elves? Don't you hate me? I'm sorry for not telling you before, Aster, but please don't hate me, I-" He was cut off abruptly by a tender embrace, feeling small circles being rubbed into his lower back.
"Richter," he began, voice muffled by the other's shoulder, "I know that people hate half-elves because of what the Desians have done. I know about all of that: my family was a victim of the attacks." He lifted his head to meet the redhead's now fleeting gaze.
"But I know that not every half-elf has committed horrible crimes. I know that not every half-elf is a Desian. I know that not every half-elf is bad. I judge people by what they have done, not what others have done. I know that not everyone is like that, Richter- and I'm sorry that it has to be that way- but I know that, someday, you will be viewed as yourself, not as someone else." He put his roommate's hair behind his other ear before stroking it soothingly with his thumb, and smiled innocently. After a few minutes of pause, Aster began to pull away when his face was suddenly cupped between two calloused hands.
He had no time to react when pulled his face to his to kiss him passionately.
Initially, Aster merely squeaked into the kiss out of shock, eyes wide and body tense with his arms hanging idly. He could see in Richter's face, which was slowly beginning to match the colour of his hair, that he was slowly becoming more and more disheartened as time passed without any reciprocation. However, he could not bring himself to move; instead, he remained stiff as a board, and the redhead eventually pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Aster," he sighed, looking down at the ground between them. The expression on his ruddy face was that of shame more than anger.
"Richter, I-" the blonde interjected worriedly.
"But courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality, right?" he said.
The human's brows furrowed. He recognized his own mantra, but was not quite sure as to why the other was saying it. "What do you mean?"
The half-elf smirked. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time. Well, at least now I know you're not interested, right?"
"No, you don't understand, I really-"
"It's fine, Aster. You don't have to lie for my sake. We could still be friends," he murmured. He lowered his hands slowly from the other's face, not breaking eye contact for a little too long, and began to turn around when the blonde pulled at his arm forcefully. He craned his neck to look back at his roommate, a slight glint of hope glowing faintly in his striking eyes, and revolved fully to face him again.
Aster smiled soothingly and cupped his cheek with one hand, rubbing circles into it with his thumb. "You didn't give me time to decide- it's not that easy for everyone, dear," he explained.
Richter's mouth slacked slightly, opening his lips just a tad. Seeing that it was not to reply, the blonde wrapped his other arm around the redhead's lower back and kissed him softly, pulling away a few moments later. "But I do love you."
They smiled in unison and went back to joining and parting slowly, hands roaming out of sheer curiosity and quiet moans escaping their rosy lips. After what could have been a few moments or a few hours, they heard the creaking of the door.
"Hey, are you two coming or-?" The two jolted and looked towards the entrance. It was Rilena, dressed in formal garb. To their surprise, she was smirking. "Hey, nice job, Richter! I knew you'd man up eventually." She giggled. "Well, come on and get ready, then. You two can make out all you want at the festival."
Aster's face flushed. "R-Rilena!" he complained nervously.
"I'll leave you two alone, then. Just hurry up; the director's waiting." She promptly left, dress swaying as she walked.
The blonde smiled and looked back at his lover. "So, do you want to be my date, Richter?" he asked cheerily.
The half-elf smiled in return. "Of course, Aster."
Aster pecked him on the cheek before the two got dressed. It was no surprise that their colleague wooed at them in a drunken stupor as they danced together, much to their chagrin, but it was a lovely night for both of them nonetheless.
At one point during the slow-dancing, Richter enquired, "We'll be going to speak with Ratatosk tomorrow, correct?" The blonde nodded sleepily.
"Well, I want you to know, in case something happens, that I love you."
He giggled. "We'll be fine, Richter, don't worry!" He nuzzled his nose affectionately with his own. "But I love you, too."
The redhead smiled in return and kissed him deeply; Rilena gave an especially loud cheer at that, but they were too lost in each other to mind.
Thanks for reading!
Man, I got the urge to replay this game and I fell in love all over again. I really love this ship, too! It's a shame the fandom's so small; I'll totally write some more stuff later for them, though, so don't worry about that.
I honestly have no idea how elven ears are depicted in the Tales series, but I always imagined they'd be like Hyrulean ears (thin, long and pointed). Also, I know Richter was a bit out of character during the bit when Aster finds out he's a half-elf, but I thought he might be very emotional about matters of race, especially when it comes to whether or not Aster would break ties with him over it.
anD HAHA YEAH I WANTED THE FIC TO BE HAPPY BUT THEN THE ENDING HAPPENED SORRY
Well, expect more from me soon and thanks again!