Fortified Solitude
a k a n t h a e - h i m e
Authoress' Note and Disclaimer: Erm. I'm not exactly sure why I wrote this, but I did. I don't much like it, but I do like balfran. (And I also think that In Memory of Our Revelation, that one other sentence collection I made for balfran, is better.)
All standard disclaimers apply - my official action phrase. If you review, which I doubt you will, try to sound intelligent. Please.
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001 - bleak
She turns away and says bleakly, whispering to his dead body, "It'll break. It always will, try as I may to prevent it."
002 - angel
When Balthier asks Fran who she's praying to - perhaps an angel - Fran informs him that it's not so much prayer as it is petition.
003 - lamplight
The Strahl is affixed with ornamental lamps in the passageways because Balthier thought candles were too unreliable, and Fran agreed.
004 - privacy
At times, Fran wonders why Balthier has a key to her cabin, but only before she decides not to replace the lock.
005 - pulse
He considers it a little south of stony the way her mechanical fighting style has a beat he can hear.
006 - rhythm
Just breathing becomes an ordeal - a hitch in between every three beats - when Fran's around.
007 - nobility
Balthier knows that the viera don't have royalty, but when it comes to Fran he can't help but wonder why not.
008 - crown
The wreath of flowers he gave her, Galbana lilies and valeblossoms, is sitting on her dresser in a pool of sunlight.
009 - sword
Crossbow, gun, greatsword...she can do it all, which Balthier envies because he hasn't drawn a sword since he had fencing lessons as a youth.
010 - heartbeat
It stops.
011 - saint
It's only the gods that stop Fran from threatening Balthier with castration for the fifteenth time that week.
012 - everlasting
He doesn't think he'll ever forget her, but she does.
013 - shield
Fran always has to protect Balthier from his own folly - usually, the only reward she gets is a peck on the cheek.
014 - stars
Fran confesses silently, the Wood has never allowed Her children to see more than an outline of the night sky.
015 - night
It's not nearly dawn when she awakens, entangled in sheets and nostrils flaring with the scent of musk and desire.
016 - victory
Balthier is given a thrilling chill by the prospect of battle, but to Fran it's just another page in the book of survival.
017 - oracle
His midwife had foretold a great destiny for him, but never Fran, which only goes to show Balthier that some things are not ordained by fate.
018 - gods
They don't believe in them.
019 - fortune
"The wealth of fools," he bragged when asked what made him so successful, when really Balthier had meant to say Fran.
020 - cathedral
Balthier pries the stained glass from a window with a pocketknife, wondering how it'll look as a mosaic on Fran's bedroom floor.
021 - portrait
She will never forget his face, no matter how many other men she's committed - or will commit - to memory.
022 - mother
Balthier has never had a true mother, but at least Fran did.
023 - children
Children are bound by blood to their parents, but Balthier is happy to see that Fran has managed to (partly) shake off those ties.
024 - nervous
Balthier hides it all behind a smirk; Fran doesn't need to, because she's never nervous.
025 - leaf
Vaan likes asking Fran if she wants a carrot; Balthier doesn't get it.
026 - sweet
Chocolate melts on his tongue quick as lightning; it's fitting because Fran always wants a piece.
027 - seasons
Fran doesn't like the way trees die in the winter, so when the time rolls around Balthier always finds a way to get them both south of Dalmasca.
028 - little
Balthier turns around and asks, obviously annoyed, "Fran, why is it that every time we walk in the Sandsea they look at you first?"
029 - caught
He'd have given his handkerchief to Fran instead, had it been Penelo in her place, far more gladly than he had before they were carted off to Nalbina.
030 - news
During the few times when they're separate - only when it's absolutely neccessary - Balthier is almost always dying to hear the word that she's still alive and not out of his reach.
031 - choker
Fran's annoyed at the way the necklace snags on her silver locks, but wears it anyway just to see the way Balthier's eyes light up as he eats up the sight.
032 - vacation
She never tells him when she needs a break from life, but he doesn't need to be told.
033 - tentacles
Fran has to scrub and scrub to get the feel of the Wild Malboro's tentacles off her skin, but for some reason it reminds her of Balthier's touch.
034 - orb
Her eyes, he can tell, are not as round as a rabbit's, but they remind him of other things than bunnies.
035 - rainwater
They're both drenched in it when they visit the Giza Plains at the wrong time of year.
036 - prophet
She can predict his every move with ease - although he still never ceases to amaze her.
037 - priest
They don't need a priest for a wedding because Jote would just ambush it.
038 - hierachy
On the social pyramid, they're both pretty high up.
039 - sparks
He strikes down the last Rook just for her, scraping a shower of sparks off the blue-gold paint with a well-aimed bullet.
040 - summer
It seems all the sun means to do to them is have them roast in the middle of a desert, rather than rot in the Barheim Passage.
041 - darkness
He pouts and complains, just to get another glimpse of her nude body before the lights go out, "I absolutely despise the dark. Can't we leave the lamp on tonight?"
042 - trial
The first time's a trial, because Fran is just too tall and feral to stay on the bottom.
043 - pension
He'll accumulate a fortune (someday, when he can stop Vaan from stealing the Strahl every month) so Fran can live like a queen after he dies.
044 - prison
He doesn't react as well to the bars on the window - singular, because there's only one and it's very high up - as Fran had expected.
045 - future
They don't have one because they're too busy picking apart their pasts.
046 - affair
Balthier is a womanizer, but at least (to Fran's relief) he's an honest one.
047 - princess
Ashe has a place in his heart, so Balthier turns his attention to Fran and ignores that shard of his soul.
048 - body
It might just matter to Balthier, but only for a little while, what size Fran is.
049 - leader
They alternate the role, depending on which one is better suited to the conflict.
050 - together
Fran has already lost her past - and Balthier his future, so they make up for it by sticking together for as long as they can.