Summary: It's the middle of the night at Aurnion and in the morning they'll be flying out to the creepy floating city that destroyed Aspio when it rose from the mountains. Everyone is rattled and trying not to show it and Yuri has pretty much given up on sleep. He figures he'll have time to on the flight to their next destination anyway, so why not get Flynn to watch the sunrise with him, for old time's sake.
Notes: Flufftober Oct. 5th Prompt: Sunrise
Bring on the Sunrise
Yuri sat in silence with Estelle for a while after they finished talking, watching the stars in the sky and wondering how many more they'd be able to see once the Adephagos was out of the way for good. Just the planetary barrier down had exposed so many stars that it was almost hard to pinpoint Vesperia, the star for which their guild was named. Which, apparently, wasn't really a star after all. It was a massive apathiea floating beyond the atmosphere and glowing from a combination of internal, crystalized aer and reflected light from the sun. It had to have something protecting it from being guzzled down by the Adephagos and Yuri wondered if Rita had any theories on it.
He also wondered, when they turned all the cores across the world to spirits... would the wave of power they used reach far enough to find Vesperia, floating in the dark above the planet? And if so, what kind of spirit would be born from the remains of that long lost Entelexeia?
Too many thoughts were running through his head. Yuri had no doubt that if tried to go to sleep now, his head would buzz with too many thoughts for him to get anything remotely resembling rest. He'd just have to... pass out on the long flight from here to Tarqaron. Hope that'd be restful enough. The gentle side to side motion of the boat in the air was usually pretty good at lulling Yuri to sleep, anyway.
Thankfully no one in their group got sea sick; Yuri suspected that getting air sick would probably be worse.
Estelle yawned. "Thanks for staying out with me, but I think I'm ready to turn in. Or at least try to pretend to sleep. What about you?"
"Too keyed up," he admitted. "I think I'll see if Flynn's still awake. We used to watch the sunrise together as kids and it might be nice to do that again now." He grinned impishly and added, "I did mention that I totally kicked his ass in our spar earlier, right?"
Laughing, Estelle shook her head in amusement. "Oh, I think I might've missed it the first dozen times you mentioned it."
Yuri stuck his tongue out at her playfully and then stood up, offering her a hand up too. Her dress probably had more grass stains on it now, but she never seemed to mind. Funny how a princess raised in a castle took so well to traveling with minimal supplies and lots of camping, but Estelle clearly loved the nomadic lifestyle they'd fallen into after leaving Zaphias together as strangers all those months ago. Almost a year. Yuri's birthday was in a few days, if he had the date right.
The world was about to be saved by a group where the oldest person was thirty-five and acted like he was going on sixty and the two next eldest were twenty-one going on twenty-two. After Yuri and Flynn came Judy at nineteen and Estelle at eighteen, though her birthday was fast approaching too. Rita was fifteen - unless they'd missed her birthday, which was entirely possible given how tight lipped she was about personal information. And then there was Karol who had only been twelve a few weeks when he'd run into Yuri, Estelle, and Repede in the so called haunted woods. As for Patty, well, she was either fourteen or... if she truly was somehow the de-aged pirate queen Aifread, then she was actually the eldest of their group. But her memories of being Aifread were sketchy at best and even she wasn't certain if those memories were truth or a trauma response to being the only survivor of the experiment that wiped out Aifread's entire crew.
But the funny thing was, for all that most of them ought to be considered too young and inexperienced for the responsibility weighing on their shoulders... Yuri had faith they were going to succeed. They'd convince Duke to help them, even if they had to kick his ass to do it, destroy the Adephagos with the help of the spirits they'd create from the world's blastia, and save the world from destruction. Their little band of misfits, made up of guildsmen and Imperial citizens working together to make the world a better place.
"I thought I saw Flynn head off Patty earlier, so I'll go with you and see about dragging her off to sleep so you won't have to listen to her convince you a romantic sunrise is something you should be watching with her," Estelle teased.
"She is really set on that crush of hers, isn't she?" Yuri sighed and shook his head. "I keep hoping she'll get over it."
"First crushes are the hardest to get over," Estelle replied sagely.
"Oh, like your crush on Flynn?" Yuri teased.
"I never had a crush on Flynn!" Estelle protested, blushing hotly. "I... my first crush was on a maid who worked at the castle. She was much too old for me. I was fifteen and she was nearly twenty-five. I never said anything, but I tried to find excuses to have her assigned to my wing for several months. I have no idea if she ever noticed or not. But eventually she quit and moved away from Zaphias to take care of her parents back at her home town. Never did find out where that was." Estelle put a hand over her heart. "I was heartbroken about it for a long time after. What about you, Yuri? Anyone ever break your heart?"
Just Flynn, really, but that wasn't the same thing. And the cracks in their friendship were mending now as, finally, they both seemed to have grown into the people they were meant to be. Guildsman and Commandant of the knights respectively. "Nope. And as far as I know I've never broken anyone's heart either. Feel bad having to start with Patty, but even if she were old enough not to make it creepy, she just wouldn't be my type."
"That I know," Estelle said, smirking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuri grumbled, but Estelle just shrugged and led the way to where Flynn and Patty were sitting off in the distance.
Flynn is giving Patty the most hilariously incredulous look Yuri's ever seen on Flynn's face. They've known each other nearly their entire lives and Yuri's never gotten that exact expression from Flynn before.
He wonders what Patty said to earn such a stare and what he can do to top it.
Estelle asks Patty to help her find Rita and Judy, managing to formulate an excuse that convinces the little pirate leave with her, though not without making some pithy little comment first that puts Flynn in stitches even as Yuri blinks in confusion.
"Watching her try to flirt with you and get nowhere is hilarious," Flynn finally says, grinning as Yuri gives him a hand up off the ground.
Yuri contemplates shoving Flynn back to the ground. Flynn's not in his armor right now, it probably wouldn't hurt too much. He refrains, however. "That wasn't flirting. I don't know what it was, but it was not flirting."
"Yes it was, you just don't know how to spot it," Flynn retorted.
"I can too. I always recognize it when Judy flirts with me," Yuri protested.
"True," Flynn allowed, "but I've also witnessed you and Judith flirting and it's clearly a game for both of you. Patty isn't playing. Or at least, she doesn't think she is."
Yuri made a strangled noise. "Ugh, I don't even know how to talk to her about this. Even if she were older, I'd still be uninterested."
"You're safe and unattainable, it's probably healthy for her," Flynn teased. "You actually are handling it fairly well. I'd appreciate it if she'd stop threatening me as her rival, but..."
Yuri choked. Flynn snickered.
"So," Yuri said, desperately wanting to change the subject. Because he did not want to look too closely at why Patty would look at their weird little group and decide Flynn was the one she was competing with for his heart. Nope. Not poking that wasp's nest with a ten foot pole. "I really don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Too keyed up. My brain keeps trying to figure out what Ba'ul's weight limit for carting the Fiertia around is. I'm really hoping your plate armor isn't the final straw."
Flynn rolled his eyes. "If he can handle your ego, then my plate armor won't faze him."
They both stuck their tongues out at each other. Yuri broke first, though, laughing at the sight of Flynn being childish. In Yuri's opinion Flynn was too serious these days, so a little childish fun had to do the guy some good.
"Well I was going to ask you to stay up and watch the sunrise with me, like we used to as kids, but if you're gonna be like that..." Yuri trailed off.
"That sounds nice, actually," Flynn said. "I'm not sure I'll be able to stay awake all the way to sunrise, but I'll certainly give it a try. Come on, I know the best place in town for a view of the sunrise."
Reaching out, Flynn snagged Yuri's hand and it was absolutely because Flynn was dragging Yuri around the town in the dark and not Flynn's hand holding his that had Yuri's heart pounding by the time they were climbing up onto the roof patio of the Commandant's residence. Which they had to be quiet about doing because it was also currently Emperor Ioder's residence. And possibly a few other government officials as well.
As one of the few two story buildings in the newly built town, it did indeed have a very nice view going for it, even in the dark with a few candles lit here and there.
Not that it was romantic or anything. Yuri wished he could thwack Estelle in the face with a pillow or something for putting the idea of 'romantic sunrises' in his head. Nothing romantic about it. Just... nostalgic.
They settled together on some bench seating and then just... talked. It had been a while since they'd had a chance to catch up like this. There was always something getting in the way. Important Imperial business, Flynn finally seeing the other side of a jail cell for a change, Yuri swapping places with Flynn in said jail cell and trying not to think of the romance novel he'd forever deny getting the idea from (especially since he'd borrowed the book from Estelle without her noticing...), Yuri running away from a murder and starting a guild, more important imperial business...
"Raven sounds a lot more fun than Captain Schwann," Flynn said with a half-yawn after Yuri finished relating the story - or stories, really - of Raven's many instances of open mouth, insert foot, get set on fire by Rita. "I can almost believe his 'I know not who this Schwann character is, but he sounds handsome' routine."
Yuri snickered. "He definitely is happier as Raven, I can understand why he'd rather leave the question of Schwann answered with 'that man is dead.' I suspect that whatever friendship he and Alexei had stopped being that long ago."
"Yeah..." Flynn sighed and leaned his head against Yuri's shoulder. "I don't know what I'm gonna do with his brigade, though. Someone needs to be in charge and then do I just officially retire Schwann because I know he's not really dead or do I honor Raven's wishes and make Schwann dead on paper?"
"Well, I don't know what the answer is to how you officially boot Schwann out of the Knights, but as to who should be in charge? Kind of obvious, Flynn. Leblanc is already running the brigade, just give him his long overdue promotion. He'll probably keep the brigade named the Schwann Brigade, so you won't even have to deal with brigade name-changing paperwork."
Flynn peered up at Yuri. "I know Leblanc's been handling things well since Zaude, but..."
"Uh, no, Leblanc has been unofficially running that brigade for years, Flynn. And there were a lot of times he really could have used the official authority to back him up instead of trying to appeal to the idea that he had Schwann's blessing." A number of times he'd arrested Yuri and then slapped him on the wrist with minimum incarceration periods instead of fines he knew Yuri couldn't pay, but there wouldn't have been an arrest at all since Yuri hadn't actually done anything wrong that time... unless you count annoying a member of the Cumore Brigade an arrestable offense. A Captain could have settled the situation without arresting Yuri for nothing, but a Lieutenant not so much.
"He's loyal and not exactly ambitious," Yuri continued, "which is why he stuck it out as Schwann's second for so long. But he did most of the work running that brigade even before Raven started insisting that handsome Schwann person couldn't possibly be him. After all this time, if even I think the guy deserves the pay raise..."
Flynn snickered in amusement. "Fair enough. It's the solution I've been leaning towards, I just didn't realize how long he'd basically been in charge. I'll have to see if I can get the paperwork started before we leave tomorrow morning..."
"Today morning at this point," Yuri said in amusement, watching his friend's eyes flicker shut. "Falling asleep on me already? And here I thought I was the older one."
"You're not the one who has to wear plate armor seven days a week," Flynn muttered. "And the paperwork since becoming Commandant has already been enough to account for two whole forests."
"Yeah, the only paperwork I've had to deal with are a few receipts for services rendered while Brave Vesperia has figured out what our guild specialty is... which is apparently that we do whatever jobs we find most interesting. Which sometimes includes having Karol reorganize warehouses." Yuri grinned impishly at the memory of Karol complaining about getting a reputation for being a good organizer.
"So you're guild's a..." Flynn yawned, "a jack of all trades guild with..." another yawn, "with a strong dose of interior decorating?"
"Pretty much. Also we do civil war ending and world saving missions for free. Which, seriously, we should get paid for at least some of this."
"Ioder pardoned you again, so there's your civil war ending payment," Flynn muttered.
"Thought that ran contingent on me rejoining the Knights?" Yuri teased.
"Initially was all Master Ioder could get the council to agree to. Then you showed up and helped save Aurnion when it was still in the process of being founded and hew was able to have a string-free pardon passed in its place," Flynn's voice was slurring from sleepiness and Yuri slid an arm around his shoulder to help keep him steady. "Just don't use murder as your answer to people like Cumore anymore, mmkay? I can actually deal with people like that now. Legally. With arrests and trials and asking Master Ioder to formally strip people of their Imperial titles."
"Then I guess I'll have to trust you to deal with anyone else I find like him," Yuri promised, watching as his words seemed to lift stress away from Flynn's face. "I do, you know... trust you. More than anyone. I'm glad you're going to have my back at Tarqaron."
Flynn didn't answer. Just made a soft sleepy noise.
"Guess I'm watching the sunrise on my own after all," Yuri huffed softly. Though his thoughts did feel calmer with Flynn tucked against his side like this.
Yuri wasn't quite sure how long he sat like that, Flynn sleeping comfortably against Yuri's shoulder. But eventually the first rays of the day crawled across the sky. And even with the semi-transparent purple limbs of the Adephagos getting in the way, the scene on the horizon was truly quite beautiful.
(On the Fiertia, Flynn found himself with a lap full of sleeping Yuri when his friend fell asleep against Flynn's shoulder only ten minutes into their flight away from Aurnion. Flynn had then guided Yuri to lay down, head on Flynn's lap... and a jealous gaze had then headed their way from a young pirate.
"I told you," Patty declared solemnly, pouting at Flynn, "we're rivals."
"So it would seem," Flynn agreed in amusement.)