Morning light filtered through the windows of a split level house, right of the main street of a bustling city. The sound of horse's hooves and wheels, along with the pitter-patter of human feet going up and down the cobblestone road made for quiet background noise. Fresh air blew against the sheer curtains in front of the open window, moving the corners of papers held down by a marbled glass paperweight on a desk. A calendar read that it was the 19th of April, Year 920-4. In the land of Orion, Saiph was one of the major port cities next to the holy capitol of Epsilon.
It was just the start of spring, and the weather was beautiful out thanks to the warm waters of the south creeping back into the bay. Arthur remembered about how he needed to find someone to clean the gutters out thanks to the winter breaking off bits of the shingles and depositing them there. It wouldn't be much to buy some slate shingles again and replace the himself...but then that would give him more reason to clean the gutters on his own. Opening his eyes finally to the world around him, the blond sighed and reached a hand up to adjust the mussed tresses he had gained from sleeping with wet hair. Burying his nose in the scent of fresh washed sheets and lavender soap, Arthur sighed and let his gaze wander to his partner, sleeping in the bed next to him.
Longer caramel blond hair with a few strands resting on his face, full lips and high cheekbones, a straight nose and thick eyelashes that framed blue eyes when he was awake. Even his figure was beautiful. To match his slender and graceful face, he was lithe and lean, pale skin decorated with fading ink marks and small 'beauty marks' across his shoulders. Smiling lightly, he wondered how someone like Francois could come to love someone like himself.
Arthur wasn't really the tallest or the most handsome, with his thick eyebrows and heavy accent from being born and raised farther North in Cephus. Not to mention his square shaped face and eyes set a hair too close together, and his crooked nose from being in too many drunk bar fights while serving in the military. The crooked nose and the heavy wool-spun dress suit were the only reminders of those days.
Thinking of all the insecurities he had, it made him feel a bit better that someone enamored him even though he thought himself downright awful at times.
Soon enough, Arthur's love awoke slowly, squinting slightly before pulling the blankets over his face. "It's so bright in here...You told me you'd put up the curtains as soon as spring came..."
"I would, but I've seemed to have misplaced the drapes." Truth was, he wanted to see how long it would take the other to notice he did put them up, he just didn't pull them closed at night. "Maybe while I'm at work, you can look for them?" He knew well enough that Francois couldn't 'function properly' without having a cup of coffee or the equivalent of such.
"I will...as soon as I get the post out and send off that parcel you've been neglecting to your brothers." A pause from the other, then a light sigh. "And if I find them, I'm putting them up myself." The other replied, peeking back out as soon as his vision adjusted. Still tired looking, Francois sighed and smiled a bit at the other. "...After a cup of coffee."
"You and that dark brew of yours—If I were in danger and you had to put off coffee for the rest of your life, sometimes I wonder which you would choose." Arthur teased, moving a bit closer to the other, nudging his feet against the other's.
"Nonsense—I'd choose you. Then I'd drink all your tea to compensate." A light smile crossed the fair man's lips, nudging forward to rest his forehead on Arthur's, closing his eyes as he did so. "...Another wonderful morning in paradise. Who knew I'd love waking up next to you as much as I do?"
"I think you should have known—You kept coming back after the time we came home drunk from the bar. And you were sober mind you." Thinking back to those days, they both looked quite different. Arthur actually had a very orange mustache at the time, and Francois had just ended his time as a sage in the capitol's monastery.
'I'm not one to enjoy being told what I can't do. They told me from the time I was young, no drinking, no smoking, nothing to pollute your body.'
'And here you are. Out in the world.'
'Smoking, drinking, and enjoying it. Not that I didn't when I was there anyways.'
"Let's just say I thought that mustache was cute, but I stayed for what was under the squirrel hair." With their proximity being a gain for Francois, he pressed a light kiss to the corner of his mouth, smiling soon after. "Arthur James Kirkland, I love you to pieces."
"I love you more than myself, Francois Renė Bonfils." A moment sitting in bed still, and Arthur roused himself to get up, rubbing the back of his neck as he stretched. Francois watched the other's muscles shiver, not quite ready to get out of bed just yet. "You be sure to look for those drapes, though." Sliding out from between the sheets, Arthur pulled on his housecoat and tied up the front.
"I'll be here for the day. I've got things to do around here, so I'll meet you for dinner say...six?"
"If it's as good as last night's I'll keep on coming back for more. Especially that dessert of yours last Tuesday."
"Arthur, I just gave you store bought pound cake with strawberry jam on it." Sure, it was a bit of a poke to his cooking skill, but Francois took it in stride sitting upright as the other picked out his clothes for the day. "You're something else, you know that?"
"I'm yours. Until the end of time." Arthur retorted, holding up his hand and displaying the silver band around his ring finger with a hearty, 'evil villain' laugh.
"Come September, sure. Until then, you're my beau, and I'll do with you what I will." Bringing himself out of bed, Francois pulled one of the pillows off the bed, putting it over his groin area. "This is why I asked for the drapes."
"Look hard and long for them, Francois. They're around here somewhere." With a wide smirk on his face, Francois finally got the hints, furrowing his brows as the other left for the shower.
"Arthur James Kirkland, you son of a bitch."
"You know, it's been rumored that they're going to start the Light Ceremony earlier than usual." The usual lunch break chatter filled Arthur's ears as he listened to the idle chatter of people who worked in the bank. Usually lunch breaks were quiet, and he didn't mind catching up on his gossip. "I even heard that the festival is going to be bigger than usual."
"Of course, the Luma Sages predicted that the year was going to be plentiful. The crops would grow well, and there wouldn't be any invasions from Grus or Cygni."
"You know they've been quiet for years. They're too busy fighting each other to bat an eye at us. Plus, they've both got funding for their war with weapons and money from Leonis. Lord knows they love war so much, they bet on those two to fight. That's why they have the capitol here, too." Arthur replied, looking over his bookwork and reading glasses at the gossiping coworkers. "Anyways, I thought you had some balances to do, Annemarie?"
"Oh, silly Arthur. I can gossip with Eliza and balance books at the same time." Annemarie was a dirty blond-haired girl with lovely curls and even prettier green eyes. They were that shade of blue green that looked like they could change color in the light. They usually looked like moss because of the red hair bow she wore every day at her boyfriend's recommendation.
Elizabeta, however was one of the tellers at the bank and was heavily pregnant, so she couldn't do much else other than sit at the bank window and let people withdraw and store money. Her husband, Roderich, was a conductor for the University's symphony, which preformed in the capitol from time to time. When asked why she wouldn't become a full time mother, she simply said 'because, I know Roderich has his days off, I have mine. It's joint parenting, and it's an easy way to allow your child to know both the mother and father. Plus, Roderich needs to learn how to act around children...he's so afraid of them for some reason.'
It was usually himself, Annemarie, Elizabeta and occasonally the owner of the bank, Basch and his younger sister, whom he was taking care of. Both were blond and held their composure quite well, and they always looked as if they were going to somewhere fancy. It was easy enough to tell they were siblings, as they shared the same eye shapes, same face shape, and the same dusty blond hair. While Basch had a more fashionable look with a simple undercut, Hana was the opposite with long braided hair, sometimes put up in curls on days when Basch came in late. Hana was blind from the day she was born, and relied on a service dog to get around. It was usually her and Silas walking around, and Basch was somewhere in the area.
Sometimes she also let Silas off the harness he wore and the dog would occasionally wander over to Arthur and nuzzle under his arm until he got a treat that he kept in the drawer of his desk. After that, he would go back and sit at Hana's feet until the harness was put back on.
"Either way, you'd think they were running out of sages. They say that the number of inducted sages is at an all time low. They've only got five Archsages. We had about...eight in house last year." Annemarie shrugged her shoulders and swung her feet at her desk, almost like a child would. "I'm just saying, though. With the lack of orphaned children going into the ministry, they're dwindling."
"Oh, just wait. The next surge of new mothers is coming. There's always going to be a guy who doesn't want to put his dick in a rubber." Elizabeta said without much hesitation, making Arthur frown at the both of them.
"You almost made me write 'dick' in the ledgers. Could you not talk so loudly?"
"Dick, dick, dick, dick, penis, penis, vagina. There, I got it out of my system. I'll whisper for your gentle ears, Arthur." Eliza mocked, looking over her own paperwork. "Ooh...but this is getting difficult for me to manage. Baby Edelstein has my nerves all pinched together and if I move right, it sets them off."
"I told you that you should have taken maternity leave! What would happen if your water broke here in the office?"
The conversations over lunch break and the quiet hours were usually like this, ending at about one in the afternoon, then Arthur left his job at five thirty when people started bringing in their deposit money from a hard day's work.
Usually he'd take the trolley that ran up and down the busier streets of Saiph. Being built on one of the costal mountains, the invention of the trolley was one of the better options for those who had to climb steeper hills to get to their jobs.
Also being in the middle of a industrial revolution, it meant that there were more factories popping up everywhere, making the economy better with it. How they got some people to work in the factories, and making what was a different question.
It was almost like living in paradise, though. Arthur had fallen in love with the mild weather and beautiful landscape of Saiph, and with the beach about fifteen minutes away, it really did feel like a little slice of heaven, along with Francois.
There were times where he could hear Anri and Eliza gossiping about how Francois would occasionally phone Arthur at work, and how he looked like a lovesick teenager on the phone, twirling the cord of the phone and leaning on the wall as he smiled from ear to ear. Mostly it was about groceries and if he needed anything, but it still didn't matter—he always got to the little quiet 'I love you's in the end before the other would repeat the phrase and hang up.
With Francois and Arthur's wedding set up to be in September, the weather would be perfect again, and they had already asked the Solas church to do the ceremony, and they accepted. In Francois' time staying around home, he was more so looking out for things that they could do after the wedding.
Francois didn't have any family to speak of, but Arthur's brothers thought of him as family from the first time Francois outdrank Rory, the second eldest of the five of them. But, to put things in perspective, Kenneth and Rory were fraternal twins and were at least twenty eight, Arthur was twenty six, Bran was twenty five and Shannon was the youngest at fourteen. With the bigger age difference between Shannon and Bran, one could assume that their mother had problems with the pregnancy and passed away, even with the bettering healthcare people were receiving. And with their father out of the picture a few months prior to Shannon's birth, it was a bit sad, but they all managed somehow.
With Rory and Kenneth acting as parental figures, it was actually easy to say that Shannon turned out a kind child with manners, and occasionally the wisecrack that would make people split down the sides with laughter.
As Arthur thought of all these things, there was a quiet thought about one thing couples think about from time to time. It quieted him on the ride home, up until he got to the door of their house and put up his things, hearing music from the old radio in the living room. It was an old tune that had been playing in bars all around the area a few years back. The smell of well seasoned food filled the hallway as he slipped off his shoes and wandered along to the kitchen. "I didn't realize that I would be getting dinner and a show tonight." He caught Francois off guard, almost making the poor man jump out of his skin. "Oh gods, sorry—I didn't mean to scare you."
"I wasn't intending for that, but if that's what you want, I can finish whipping the cream and dance if you want." It seemed as if he were putting the finishing touches on a cake he had made. It looked to be angel food, and it was lobbed in half in the middle so that there'd be a cream filling. How thoughtful.
"Mm, I don't know...that's a difficult decision to make." Undoing his tie a bit, he crept a bit closer. "A finished cake, or dancing..." Creeping closer, Francois' meek smile turned wider until the other got close enough that he tapped the other with the cream-covered whisk. "Oi!" A quick wipe and Arthur got most of the cream in one swoop, looking it over before sticking his fingers in his mouth. "...Buttercream. Hunh."
"Yes, yes it is. But I need to finish this before it loses its shape, Arthur. Then I'll have time before dinner's done." Wiping the bit of extra cream that Arthur's nose, he allowed the other to finish what was left before going about putting all the frosting in a piping bag.
"You're going to make me fat with that." Arthur remarked, leaning on the counter, just watching contently.
"And that's why I suggested those classes at the community center. Aerobics would do you good at your sit down job. I am enamored by you and you'll never change in my eyes, but if you're worried about getting fat, I'd suggest walking."
"You're honestly the most kind, yet sharp tongued being I've ever met."
"Some days, I have to be kind and sharp with my words. But, you don't seem to mind. Not when I sugar coat them after."
A moment of silence, and a familiar tune came on the radio, piquing their interests. "...You remember this song?"
"It's...ours, isn't it? I hope you remember, I was having my third drink at the time."
"I was on my fourth and I still remember." Standing upright from the counter, Arthur bowed gracefully and offered his hand to the slightly taller blond. "But, I humbly ask for your hand to dance, my dear. It would delight me to no end if you would join me."
Putting down the piping bag and ignoring the half decorated dessert, Francois slipped his hand into Arthur's, holding ever so gently. "I would love to, sir. It would be an honor." Arthur came out of his graceful bow and brought himself closer to the other, resting his hand on his partner's hip, while the other's hand fell to Arthur's shoulder. "Do you remember what you asked me when this song came on and you thought you wooed me with your military uniform and that kind smile of yours?
"Mm, refresh my memory." Slowly they swayed, taking in the moment that surrounded them.
"Well...you told me I was the most beautiful thing you had seen since you had gotten home." Francois stared, making Arthur smile a bit sheepishly. "I've refreshed your memory...now tell me, do you remember what I said?"
"You asked me if I were looking at the scotch in my hand or you. And I said 'Dear, this scotch is a two and you're a ten. I'll give you five seconds to accept or decline coming with me into the washroom and banging furiously.'."
"You're lucky I found you charming and we were both a bit drunk." Francois chuckled as the other turned red in the face, pressing his forehead against the other's. "We both woke up in your temporary apartment, hung over and you were still singing that song from the night before." He hummed. As the song went on, the two of them grew silent and settled into the moment with the soft music playing in the background. "I don't think I could be any happier right now." Glacing at the silver ring on his own finger, Francois sighed and closed his eyes, listening as Arthur hummed the rest of their song.
"All the children are going into the work houses when they're old enough...why aren't they coming here?" It was the question that one Archsage asked another, faces concealed by porcelain masks, decorated in blues and golds.
"It's because nobody wants to follow anymore. If you've noticed, everyone works now. The factories are taking people and some work weekends, others don't. When they aren't working, they sleep. As much as it make sense, it's worrying." Another said, sighing heavily. "To make things worse, there aren't as many children in general."
"There aren't any people running the streets anymore. Everything is...I hate to say it, too perfect. We have to do something. Deisidus can't wait much longer. If we want another seven years of good fortune, we need to do something! Slaughter the best cattle, get the purest sheep!"
"But it said—" Smack! The room silenced as leather gloves hit cold marble.
"I know what it said."
"Then what do we do?"
"...We make do. We make a draft, and we'll go from there." A heavy sigh came from one of the Archsages. "And we'll take what we have, make it pure again, and give it for offering. Next time, we'll do better."
"You think if we follow through with this, we'll get a next time?"
"It knows this is all we have. Deisidus will have to accept. We depend on it just as it depends on us."