Word: inane - noun - void or empty space
A/N: When it comes to the Edge/Rydia pairing I can take it or leave it. They'd probably interact quite a bit, though, since I know I wouldn't want to get in the middle of Baronian drama.
Rydia found Edge in a dark corner of the Dwarven castle. She didn't know how she'd known to look there. It was probably because she too had searched out the deepest reaches of the Feymarch when she wanted to be alone to think of her mother.
He didn't respond as she approached. He looked so small, she thought, hunched against the stone wall, stature so different from the blustering arrogance he usually exhibited.
Sitting carefully beside him, she waited. If he wanted to talk she had things to say, but if not she'd just stay here for a while. She'd found being alone with her grief to not be quite so hard if she was with someone else.
"I'm such a jerk," he said eventually, still not looking at her. "They were good parents, and all I did was fool around and make shows of pointless rebellion. I never got to tell them how much I appreciated what they'd done for me."
"I think they understood, at the end." The summoner didn't look at him either, speaking out into the dim expanse of the room. "They knew you cared, in their last moments."
He shifted, and a few of the shadows fell away from his face. He wasn't wearing his mask, she realized, for the first time since they'd met. But he hadn't been expecting her, so Rydia subdued her curiosity and kept her eyes forward.
"Killing Rubicante was supposed to make it better."
The emptiness in his voice was one she knew. She could tell him about it, how the pain faded along with the memories, how everything would be fine except for that small part that was gone and would never be coming back.
Instead she said, "It didn't help me, either." She doubted he knew her history, but he didn't ask. And she was grateful; she'd relived that moment enough times today.
They sat in silence a while longer.
Finally, Edge rolled to his feet, pulling his mask back over his face in the same fluid motion.
"If you ever need to talk about it, I'll always be happy to comfort you."
Rydia scoffed and stood. She could see that annoying smirk through his mask and it irked her. "If you've got the energy to throw around bad pickup lines then you have the energy to stop moping. So get back out there. The others were worried about you're worthless hide."
She stomped up the stairs, not waiting to see if he followed. From the sounds of it he wasn't, though she'd already learned not to judge on such terms when it came to their newest traveling companion. But she wouldn't begrudge him the time alone, now. She knew he'd be fine.