In a small pub in Bhujerba, princess and sky pirate argued.
"Look, I'm just saying that everyone else trusts Basch. Even the boy seems to be warming up to him."
"He killed my father. Do you actually believe this 'twin brother' story of his?"
"Princess, the man helped rescue you on Ghis' ship. Do show some appreciation."
"It isn't like you know him! How long has it been since you set him free, a day?"
"He's been with us longer than you have."
"That's another thing! You don't even have a stake in this! I've been fighting the Empire for two years, and now you and your ragtag bunch come in and act like you know better than I do!" Ashe exclaimed. "You really piss me off sometimes."
"Better to piss you off than try and get you off," replied Balthier, not quite under his breath.
Ashe stared at him as he took a sip of his ale. "What?"
Balthier set down his mug, something unreadable crossing his face before he spoke. "Given the way you act, it seems reasonable to assume no man's touched you since your late husband. Though I'm sure you two had a lot of fun together, you're probably out of practice these last two years. I'm sure that's very frustrating." Ashe's teeth clenched and her face grew red.
"What in the hell is wrong with you?" she growled, hand twitching toward the weapon on her hip before she caught herself. Balthier shifted in his seat, but his smug expression didn't change. He knew his words had gotten to her. "I didn't think someone who thought themselves cultured would stoop to such a filthy personal attack. That wasn't even clever!"
"Don't I speak the truth? Maybe you wouldn't be as much of a pain if-"
"No! And it's none of your business!" With that, Ashe got up and walked away, kicking her chair in hard enough to turn other customers' heads.
How dare he say something like that?
That was bloody stupid.
Half an hour later, Balthier was still kicking himself over that exchange. As soon as those first words had left his lips, he knew he'd gone too far. It didn't show much class to bring up a widow's dead spouse in the course of an argument, let alone guess that said widow was bitchy because she hadn't been with a man in some time. He still wasn't sure why he'd decided to go all in and elaborate on that awful, clumsy play on words.
"Shut your stupid face, Ashe" would have been more witty…
His thoughts trailed off as he heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, Ashe, looking every bit as angry as she had when she stormed off earlier, slapped him hard across the face. Taking advantage of his surprise, she shoved him onto the bed and leaned over him. "You think you know how I am in bed, sky pirate? I'll show you who's out of practice."
Ashe leaned in and crushed her lips against Balthier's. By now he had recovered somewhat from the shock of having Ashe barge into his room and attempted to move away. He managed to pull back slightly and get out, "Ashe, what-" before she recaptured his mouth and started to fumble with his belt.
Balthier hesitated, for the briefest of moments, before renewing his efforts to push Ashe away. She resisted, trying to pin him down, but he was stronger than her, and she wound up being forced off the bed, landing hard on the floor.
Trying to make sense of what had happened in the last thirty seconds, Balthier stared blankly at the ceiling and took a deep breath before looking back down. He slid his belt back through its buckle and moved to the floor beside Ashe, who was still sitting where she fell. Balthier grabbed her, intending to shake the princess and ask what had gotten into her, when he saw the tears running down her cheeks. "You aren't hurt, are you?" he asked.
Ashe shook her head and turned away from him, starting to get up. Balthier grabbed her shoulders, gently keeping her in place. "What's wrong?" Balthier had thought about possible consequences of their argument and his unfortunate jab at her, but Ashe sitting on the floor crying after trying to jump his bones was certainly not one he had considered.
"I- I don't know. What you said earlier, about Rasler and I..." she trailed off.
Balthier sighed. "I didn't think you would take it so personally."
Ashe turned to look at him, anger flashing across her face again. "I'm not an idiot, Balthier. How could you think that's not personal?" Her gaze returned to the floor.
"All right, so I said the wrong thing. Even the leading man makes mistakes from time to time. That still doesn't explain why you came in here and tried to have your way with me."
"I thought I'd get you back for what you said earlier. You know, show you up or something…" Balthier, for once, didn't know how to respond, especially when she continued, "…and you were right, I haven't been with anyone since Rasler. Maybe…"
"Here, get up. The bed's more comfortable." Balthier helped Ashe onto the bed, sitting next to her and looking over. Though Ashe often thoroughly irritated him, Balthier couldn't just watch her suffer. Clearly she had some real problems, things she had been holding back for a long time.
"Well," Balthier started. "I don't mean to be condescending, but the way to move on from Rasler – and I take it that's part of why you came here tonight – is not to lose your senses and just give yourself away. I don't think you even like me, and I'm certainly not crazy about you, either." Ashe was still staring at the floor. "I am sorry about what I said earlier. As I said, even I slip up occasionally."
What felt like an hour of silence passed before Ashe finally spoke. "You talk about moving past Rasler… I don't know if that's ever going to happen. I've been seeing him, guiding me along. Not in dreams or anything like that, I mean I really see him, or his ghost, something real. Maybe I'm going crazy. It scares me." She looked at Balthier. "Have you ever felt that way, like someone you lost had come back, guiding you somehow? Or am I really just insane?"
The nethicite. Father. "…No." Ashe dropped her head again. "But we all have things we have to deal with. Regardless of what you think of him, Basch bears scars from what he endured. And Vaan and Penelo, growing up on the streets without parents. Gods know what they've had to do to get by." Balthier touched Ashe's chin, moving her head so their eyes met. "I think you're stubborn, I think you can be rather annoying sometimes, but I don't think you're mad."
Ashe was motionless for a few seconds, then slowly moved her hand to Balthier's thigh. She leaned toward him and he tilted back, gently pushing her hand away. "You aren't thinking straight, and you're looking for something I can't give you. I could certainly make you feel good tonight, and I'll admit some part of me wants to do just that. But we would regret it tomorrow." He put his hand on Ashe's back, lightly pushing her up and away from the bed. "Go get some sleep. We've all got a big day coming." She complied, silently standing and walking to the door.
Hand on the knob, the princess turned to face the sky pirate. "Thank you," she said softly.
"Don't mention it."