FFXIV: A Realm Reborn is property of Square Enix.

This story does not currently have a Beta, all errors are my own.

Shiloh wasn't sleeping, her back was to him on the narrow bed, the thin blankets shifted behind her, her tail still swishing in annoyance. Tap, tap, tap, against his own tail, her tail fur was so much thicker than his own, longer, softer and easily fluffier. It felt like someone was assaulting him with a feather duster. His own tail was long and thin, with a tuft of fur at the very end. She sighed again, and Vesuvan closed his eyes, feeling them burn from too little moisture and fatigue. Tap, Tap, Tap. He was trying to be patient, doing his best to be understanding of her feelings and turbulent emotions. He was a soldier and no stranger to death, she was a healer and he knew she didn't have a one hundred percent success rate. They were her friends, he got that, he really did. Tap, Tap, Tap. His eyes snapped open and his long thin tail wrapped itself around Shiloh's restless one, holding it still. He felt it struggle to move entwined as it was with his own.

"Go to sleep, Shiloh." Vesuvan's deep voice rumbled, an order.

"I'm trying." She rasped out, annoyed.

"Try harder." Her tail really was unbelievably soft.

"I can't stop thinking of…"

"Stop thinking, thinking isn't going to help our situation. Go. To. Sleep." He turned his head over his shoulder in the pitch black room, the tired bed springs creaked loudly.

"I can't just turn my mind off!" She argued back, the bed shifted again, springs groaning. Her tail pulled away from his with a yank. Vesuvan's brow furrowed at the loss.

"Yes you can, you just don't know where the off switch is." He fully rolled onto his back this time, now feeling her flush against him. She had propped herself up on her elbows, he heard a quick intake of breath. He thought of twenty four hours ago, bandages , unwrapping her slowly, tasting her, and he smirked wickedly in the dark. "I think I may be able to find it though."

"What are you talking about?" She squeaked when Vesuvan rolled, grabbing her by the waist and positioned her beneath him.

Vesuvan could see her eyes, luminous in the absence of light, as all Miqo'te eyes were, he could barely make out the outlines of her face, her lips. He adjusted his body weight fitting one leg between hers, resting on an elbow, allowing his other hand to trace the contours of her face in the dark.

"Talk, tell me what you're thinking." He told her in a low voice, his hand reaching up to the velvet of her ears, stroking them gently. They twitched under his touch.

"Vesuvan." Her breath caught in her throat, his touch was deliberate and soft, her ears burned and twitched after each quiet stroke. "This isn't the time…you're being inappropriate." Her voice came out pleading instead of assertive. She brought her hands to his chest, it was smooth, with a light dusting of wirey blue hair, she could feel his steady heartbeat through her fingers, she felt his heat. When his hand started to move down her face, when his thumb brushed against her lips she gasped, not knowing if she wanted him to stop or not, her mind and her heart, her entire body pulling in opposite directions. "How can you think touching me like this is ok, considering everyone is dead…or captured. If I had been quicker, if we had been there sooner, I could have at least saved some of them…If….If I wasn't so…weak." Shiloh's cheeks felt warm, her heart was pounding in her ears. She brought a hand up to stop his from roaming. He didn't push further letting his fingers caress where she had stopped him, right below her jaw.

"Mmm, so what can we do, right now, in this moment that will help the current situation? We've planned out a course of action. What else can we do, right now?" His breath puffed across her skin, he let his lips touch the other side of her jaw, and he inhaled, taking in her scent, cinnamon and desert flowers, mingled with sweat and sand. He felt her shiver beneath him.

"We should rest…but I can't sleep, I'm trying…I just…keep thinking." Shiloh's grip on his wandering hand lessened and she stretched her neck, craning it to allow his lips more room to move. His breath was warm, his lips soft, and when he spoke in reverberated against her body. He smelled like steel and leather and sweat and it was driving her to madness.

"And that's our problem isn't it. All your pent up anxious and frustrated energy, you analyzing and re-analyzing, thinking this mess is somehow your fault, thinking about the things you think you could have done. Letting your guilt get the best of you." His tongue darted out against her jaw, she made a sound, something he could only describe as a whimper, his wandering hand itched where it was, just below her breast. He felt her hip move against the leg he had wedged between hers. He swallowed the groan at the back of his throat. "Those thoughts won't serve us, won't serve you, so I'm putting an end to them."

His mouth trailed along her face until he found her mouth. She was about to say something but he swallowed the words up when he kissed her. It was hard and demanding, his tongue insisting on entrance, where he tasted and dominated her. He wouldn't give her a moment to breath let alone think. His hand cupped her breast, tugging the shirt down and finding the hard little nub rolling it in his fingers. He swallowed every gasp, and moan that bubbled from her throat. Her hips were grinding against him. Her small hands fisted in his hair trying to pull him closer bruising both of their lips, she answered his kiss with everything she had, and when she nipped his lower lip he growled, crushing her against him. He shifted, nudging her legs open to allow his hips a place between her legs, her maddening grinding was now against his length. The kiss broke and they were both panting.

"You are not weak." His voice was reduced to a dark rasp.

Shiloh was overwhelmed; in a matter of moments there was nothing in her mind except his hands, his lips and his voice, and how much she wanted him. His mouth traveled down to her collar bone tracing the outlines, nipping at her skin, every touch shooting electricity to her center, and adding to her need for release. She felt him hard between her legs, her panties and his loose linen sleeping pants acting as frustrating barriers. She writhed wantonly beneath him, lost to sensation, in the dark of the room she didn't feel the nervousness or embarrassment she had the day earlier. There was no light, or mirror here, only touch and taste and scent. So she felt no shame as she ground against his length, she felt pure exhilaration when his tongue and mouth covered her breast and she pulled his head against her. When she stroked and tugged at his soft velvet ears and he groaned against her skin, her back arched. It thrilled her knowing he was reacting to her, that her touch could pull those sounds out of him. She raked her nails across his back, and his teeth clamped onto her hardened nipple, and the pain shot to her core, and she cried out in a mixture of surprise and pleasure. Fingers slid beneath her panties between wet folds, and he traced lightly, circling the apex of it all, a small and hard little nub pulsing with need.

"What are you thinking about, Shiloh? Tell me exactly what's on your mind." His voice was thick and predatory.

"I…you. I want. Touch me. Please." Making words, let alone complete sentences was beyond her ability.

"I am touching you." He teased, pleased that he had managed to turn off her mind, but not ready to stop, not even close.

"Not…that's not….Ves…please!" Her words came out in a moan as she bucked her hips trying to get his fingers to touch exactly where she wanted, and whimpered when he avoided her tactic. His dark chuckle only made her whimper more.

"Show me." He mumbled against her ear, teeth grazing against the velvety twitching appendage.

Shiloh's fingers released the vice grip in his hair and found his hand, Vesuvan's hands were slick and wet as she guided him to her maddening pulsing center. He slid the tips of his fingers along her hardened clit, and Shiloh saw stars in front of her eyes.

"There. Twelve save me, right there." She gasped out, her legs wanting to clamp down, her hips bucking in time.

Vesuvan moaned, he pulled her hand away, putting her fingers in his mouth and sucked them, tasting her. His entire body shifted when he was done, his hand moved away from her button to be replaced by his tongue, while one finger slid past her folds to her core. His other arm held her down, controlling her hips. He lapped her up, her inner walls fluttering around his finger, his erection twitched, almost painfully, he slid a second finger inside of her, and sucked on her sensitive button, and relished the sound of her moans turning into screams, the way his name was panted out of her mouth like a mantra. He moved his tongue and fingers faster, and her sweet mouth started swearing, words that would have made any pirate proud until even those devolved into broken cries and moans. Her walls tightened and he increased the pressure of his tongue, until there was no sound left in her, and she silently screamed out her climax, her back arched off the bed, her fingers dug painfully into his scalp. He slowed his pace but didn't stop until he felt her relax around him. He brought himself back up, kissing her, more gently this time, letting her taste herself on his tongue, her body full of short tremors as she came down from her orgasm. Her fingers went to his waistband, and he growled into the kiss, stopping her hands.

"Are you sure?" He whispered. He felt her face nod against his.

"Yes." She whispered back, kissing his cheek and jaw, her hands pulling at his pants.

It took all his self-control not to take her roughly, painfully aware that he was her first. He eased himself in, one hand on her hip, bracing himself on his forearm, head bowed into the crook of her neck, her pulse fluttering against his lips. He sheathed himself to the hilt with a low groan, he nipped and sucked on her pulse, he gave her time to adjust, he heard her gasp but he didn't hear any trace of pain in her voice. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and her hips moved beneath him, she sighed his name. He felt the intense softness of her tail on his leg, and he was moving too. Her hands were in his hair, pulling his face into her neck and he bit down on the junction between shoulder and neck, feral and possessive, growling as he claimed her, both of their actions based on instinct. She arched under him, her nails finding purchase in the skin of his back, and she raked him, leaving long jagged lines. He moved faster, harder, her teeth found his shoulder and she bit back, marking him the same way he had marked her. Mine.

She was the goddess he had seen sink a house into the ground, who had split Titan in two and sent him to the abyss. All her unbridled passion was released in a torrent, her hidden self, her true self, unhindered by expectations and uncertainty, and Vesuvan took everything she gave, returning everything he had. He was drunk on her sounds, her scent, her molten heat and the way he felt utterly consumed by her. His pace quickened when he felt her tighten around him, her cries reaching a new peak, his lips found hers and he drank her in as her entire body stilled and shook, her folds milking him until he found his own release. He came undone, eyes rolling as he emptied himself into her. He collapsed, her arms twined around his neck weakly and he nuzzled her neck, kissing where he had bitten. He slid out of her.

He rolled over pulling her with him until he lay on his back and she was half draped over him. He stroked her hair and ears idly, on the verge of sleep. He glanced down, and saw her luminous eyes looking back at him, he kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent again.

"So what are you thinking about now, Shiloh?" He rumbled out in a hoarse voice.

"That we should have done this a long time ago." She murmured back.

Vesuvan chuckled, nodding his agreement. "Now, go to sleep."

"Yes sir."

They slept, exhausted, too tired to notice the tendrils of purple back smoke recede from their room into the hall way. Too tired to hear the tap of boot and the rustle of the portal opening and closing.

They stood in the church, restless, no other Scions had arrived in the night, or that morning, they had arrived in the early afternoon, having slept late. Waking up in Vesuvan's arms had been different, comfortable; she had woken up feeling not only rested but safe. He had slept with an arm around her, and his face nestled lightly in her hair. His even breath on her sensitive ears is what finally woke her. He was in his armor now, both literally and figuratively. One of the twins, Alphinaud, was upsetting the acolyte at the church, forcing unwanted memories into the man's head. Vesuvan's white blue eyes were cold and sharp once again, the warm hazy sparkle had been reserved for her alone, a look of unfiltered affection, tracing the marks he had left on her, studying every detail under the soft light of the lamp. The urgency of his kiss had turned lazy and drawn out, he told her how beautiful she was, and he smiled and laughed when she blushed, prompting more kissing and soft words to colour her cheeks once again. She watched him now, stern and hard as stone, his axe menacing even slung on his back, suspicious, condescending as he explained to the young elezen twin that there had most likely been a betrayal, Alphinaud and the acolyte, Cid, sobered. Vesuvan asked the Scion what they were going to do, how would they protect Shiloh, how would they act in the face of this knowledge. Alphinaud fancied himself a tactician, Vesuvan had his own ideas, but wanted to gauge if the other two could even be trusted based on the words the child would speak.

Speak he did, Alphinaud outlined a plan that would take them into Ishgard, that would bring them face to face with yet another Primal, Garuda. That they would need to first uncover Cid's airship, a relic from the battle of Cartineau. Shiloh bristled, and became angry when there was no word of rescue, or retribution for their fallen and captured comrades.

"To the hells with Garuda, what about our friends, your sister? Minfillia? We need to go after them!" She had cried.

"And we will my friend, but if what you and your companion say is true, then they will be expecting such a move, as it stands this refuge is no longer safe. You must leave, we are still Scions, and Garuda is a very real threat. Eorzea will be given a very loud message when she is defeated, that we are still a force to be reckoned with. We will find Minfillia and the others, but if we have any hope at all in taking them back, you must be far from their clutches now. Coerthas is not somewhere the Garleans would trespass lightly." Alphinaud, in all of his haughty and arrogant glory was right. Shiloh nodded in agreement. Vesuvan grunted, as much as he disliked the young elezen, he was right, and the plan was a good one, his doubts were quieted, for now.

They left the church, the heat was blazing and nearly visible. Beads of sweat formed on their brows almost instantly. "I'll contact my cousin in the highlands, see if he can point us on some leads."

"Alright, Let's take the Aertheryte at dusk, there's more traffic then, it will be more difficult to track us in the event we are followed." Shiloh added.

Vesuvan only nodded as they descended into the natural canyon that Camp Drybone was built around. He grabbed her gently by the elbow and steered her into an alley and kissed her. "You really need to have a proper bath. I can still smell myself all over you, I can smell us, and it is driving me to distraction." He kissed her again. He never wanted to stop kissing her.

Shiloh reciprocated, melting into him, surprised he would dare to show his vulnerability, his affection for her in public, even if they were hidden. In a town with severe water rations, it had been difficult to clean herself, to tidy the mess they had made on each other. Their room still held the heady scent of their ardor. The kiss ended quickly and Vesuvan strolled away, back straight, menacing in his plate and axe. She followed quickly, cheeks flushed and licking her lips, wanting more than a brief glimpse of the man who had exposed his soul to her the night before, she walked, attempting to look as casual and powerful as he did, sure that she fell short. They made their way back to their room to gather their things, and wait out the heat of the day, the second the door latched behind them, Shiloh went to work peeling his armor off, both literally and figuratively.

Authors note: So...smut. I debated long and hard about putting this chapter in here. It's my first outright, not fade to black, smut scene. Love it? Hate it? I thought it fit the story, and the moment. Ves and Shiloh have been dancing around each other for a while, and it felt right. Yes it was her first time, no there was no talk to hurting, or magical hymen's breaking, or blood, because frankly if you and your partner are doing it right, it shouldn't hurt. I would think Miqo'te's as a general rule are a bit more anamalistic in their approach as well, think of lions biting their partners shoulders and necks to hold them in place, at least that's my headcanon for the kitty denizens of Erozea!

Anywhozit! Thanks for reading, reviews are always welcome and appreciated! I am aiming to have at least a monthly update on this story until it's over. If you are a Naruto fan, I have a Sasuke x Sakura idea that won't leave me alone that is currently being outlined, and will hopefully be posted in the next couple of weeks. (I'm not even that big of a Sasuke fan...but eh...the idea hit me, and I'm running with it.)