"Caelum?! Your Noctis Caelum?" Serah exclaimed, nearly dropping her fork of stabbed salad.
"Don't ware it out," he offered with reluctant humor.
"Sorry, sorry," Serah chuckled as she finished that bite. Quickly swallowing, she said, "I'm just surprised. You have to be the second person I met through my sister that comes from a wealthy and important family."
Noctis arced an eye brow at that, glancing over at the still eating Farron, the blind woman looking hardly bothered or impressed by this conversation. "Second?" Noctis asked, glancing back at Serah.
Serah smirked, Well..." she dragged out.
"His name is Hope Estheim," Lightning inverted. Serah shot her a look, which the elder Farron ignored easily.
"Estheim?" Noctis repeated. "Isn't that one of top scientists that work for the Sanctum?" he asked.
Lightning nodded, "Hope is the son of Bartholomew Estheim. He won't be following his father's footsteps as a scientist, but will have a big impact as a politician. Or so he plans."
Noctis offered a small smile, "Might meet him sometime then."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Lightning reasoned, moving her head up to stare at him with those fogged eyes. Noctis blinked as he stared at those eyes in clear light. No warm sun or shade of night to alter her eyes. He found they were a azure blue, covered in a veil of white by how it looked. Despite how empty the eyes looked, there was a spark of life in them. Noctis himself could only distantly imagine what they would look like in a flush of color, clear of the fog over her eyes.
The clearing of a throat, tickled his ears. Looking over at the third occupant, he grimaced slightly, looking away to his own plate. Serah grinned at him from her side of the table. Her smile widening, Serah offered, "Light and Hope are close."
"As expected between mentor and pupil," Lightning forced through. Looking up, her blind eyes narrowed as she glared at her sister's direction. "And he's currently seventeen, Serah. He's our baby brother."
Serah scoffed, but added with a wary smile, "True, when he finally gets a girl, we'll show her our saved photos that we hide."
"And stories," Lightning offered with a coy smirk.
"For sure," Serah purred.
Noctis silently blinked at the two, seeing a new side from his comrade in the evening. This was the hushed person he spent a few nights with, enjoying the start of evening? The usually quiet, listening Lightning, plotting an evil tease to a boy he would likely meet eventually. Shaking his head, his lips twitching up, he went back to his meal observing the similarities and differences. Appearance, they were both fairly close. But Lightning was taller than Serah, and they both wore their hair differently too. And their eyes, both their held held a touch of wisdom that he couldn't understand. Like the first time he met Lightning, her eyes showed that she lived through more than he ever could.
Flicking his gaze over to Serah, he found that her eyes were the same.
What did they go through to get such eyes?
"Oh Noctis!" Serah exclaimed, "Do you want more wine? It looks like your a little low..."
"I'm good," Noctis eased, smiling kindly.
Serah easily returned it. Content with his current items, she turned back to Lightning, asking how the chocobo riding went with someone named Fang. A man? Noctis didn't know, but he got the impression that they were close, though not romantically.
He smiled softly and shook his head. Serah was trying to rile him up a little. He found that to be amusing and concerning. Even more so when he thought back to his first meeting with the younger Farron.
When he saw her, he had thought and mistook her as Lightning. He was easily fooled by the fact that she had pink hair, similar heart shaped face, and precious blue eyes. Other important features that he should of sought for were well hidden in the light of the setting sun. Merely content with her presence, he scarcely noticed that she was a few inches shorter than his usual companion. He greeted her as eagerly as ever, relishing a listener and someone that shares similar views as well as new ones.
But when she finally talked, it wasn't the deep, melodic voice he was use too. It was a softer tone, a voicet hat could be missed and overheard easily, unlike Lightning's course firm voice that demanded peers to listen and follow.
It was Serah's voice that he heard, not Lightning's.
Thus concluded their first meeting. After talking for a bit, she insisted that he joined them for dinner and found himself being dragged to their house by a surprisingly strong girl.
Dinner with the Farrons was nice, and interesting. Around Serah, Lightning was different than how she was with him, but there was still a slight firmness that she still held that kept her form relaxing completely. Noctis suspected it was because he was here. But despite that, she still joked with Serah easily, chuckling at each tease as the two mingled easily.
Noctis smiled as well. So this was what a family dinner was.
He liked it.
"Hey Noct!"
He looked up to see Serah grinning at him.
"You should meet the rest of our family!" she exclaimed.
Lightning's face darkened. "No," she said instantly as a visible grimace etched her face.
"You're going to meet our family," Serah decided.
"Serah," Lightning warned, only it fell to deaf ears as the younger Farron went on explaining about their "family"; leaving the older Farron's features to darken at each word.
This was going to be interesting, Noctis mused as he listened.
He was looking forward to it.