For the fact of Senri's apparent fame, the man himself seemed quite humble. And downright insatiable... Not that Raha minded, enjoying the fantasy of belonging to the beautiful male far too much.
The fantasy, because a huge part of his mind was waiting for his lover to realize how unfit he was for him. Between his appearance and what he vaguely remembered of the rumors and gossip circulating the Old Sharlayan about the Scions of the Seventh Dawn – and especially their Champion – Raha knew that Senri could have anyone.
He deserved someone far better, too. Someone stronger and smarter, and not... him. He was just... lucky, he supposed, to stumble into that tavern at the right moment to garner the gorgeous brunette's attention when he was at his low and vulnerable, and perhaps in a way – even if he wasn't aware of that yet... or something – Senri was literally pouring his misery over that faceless stranger into the heated possessiveness of him instead.
In short, Raha was waiting for the bubble to break while greedily drinking in the Warrior's... attention.
Drunk on him, in fact, because while it lasted, his 'Dream' was literally like his depraved mind's fantasy come to life. Not because of his unearthly beauty, not really even if it was hard to miss, but more so because he was just... perfect. For Raha, who spent most of his life wishing to be wanted, Senri's nearly obsessive claim of him was heady. Downright intoxicating.
And by the evening of that day, he felt like an addict high on the best drug, eagerly basking in the way his lover seemed determined – with mind-numbing intensity – to claim him whole... and internally only cursed his body's inability to keep up and please him enough that his... fantasy would last longer before Senri gets bored of him.
Or reality comes crashing down into his bubble because... it was just too good to be real.
He grimaced slightly at the thought, even if that felt like a far too expensive effort while his body felt boneless and overheated, sprawling in a comfortable nest of black blankets. The soft materials felt as if he was resting face first on a fluffy cloud and was wondrously contrasted by the hard press of his lover's body against his back, radiating heat that made Raha melt in more ways than one. His unruly tail found purchase in wrapping around the brunette's thigh in a shameless claim while the massive Seeker seemed perfectly content to entertain himself by trailing affectionate kisses over his neck and shoulders. Bracing his weight on elbows around him, the heat of Senri's body covered him completely, and the hard press of his dick against Raha's backside was hard to ignore... but he quite literally had no energy left even to move a muscle, not o mention – and even now he couldn't help but blush hotly at the thought – his ass felt very sore after he lost the count of how many times his lover took him.
„Sorry, babe," the brunette muttered hesitantly into his neck, nuzzling into his skin apologetically and chuckled sheepishly when the only thing Raha found energy for was an embarrassingly weak hum. „I should have warned you that I tend to get... over-excited sometimes. I do try to curb myself in, I swear..."
That was him 'curbing' his... enthusiasm...? Gods, but he was truly perfection made flesh...
He didn't realize that he said that out loud until his lover shook with laughter against his back.
„Far from it, love, but you're just... beyond addictive," he purred insistently, sagging against him slightly and resting his chin on Raha's shoulder. And hearing that endearment, he couldn't help how his stupid heart stuttered in its rhythm. It should be embarrassing: how much he enjoyed Senri's penance to call him by 'babe' or 'love,' but he... liked it. He loved how affectionate he was with him... even if it made it even more like a vivid dream. „You're so cute and warm and sweet and... Azeyma, it's like you had been made for me, you know..."
„If I was..." he slurred lazily, smiling involuntarily when his lover's fingers slid in between his, lacing their left hands together. „...I could keep u-up..."
„We will work on your stamina, babe," Senri's deep voice shook with laughter, then he sighed with apparent bliss, and his right hand snuck under him, splaying possessively over Raha's abdomen. And as pleasant as it was – that fierce tenderness of his claim, the way he seemed to so... want him, crave him constantly – the redhead at the statement couldn't help but frown slightly.
„I have to... go back... eventually," he muttered barely coherently. „...to the camp..."
„Mhmm, we will go there tomorrow, I promise," Senri purred, nipping on his throat delicately between words. „You'll get your things while I have that word with whoever leads that... expedition."
„...Rammbroes," he whispered, trying to open his eyes.
„Ah, okay... Yeah, him then, I'll talk with and send them packing, then we'll see about finding a proper place for us, hm?"
„...huh?" his fingers clenched around Senri's involuntarily at that.
„I have a home in Lavender Beds, the residential district of Gridania, but honestly, that's more of a storage than anything else, especially since I mostly stay here, at Rising Stones. I could ask Tataru – our organization's coinkeeper – to expand my bedroom so we have more space, babe, but I think you would be more comfortable if we get our own place. All of my friends did that too... I mean, moved out when they hooked up with their... significant others, since living in the compound – as Alisaie said – is good when you're single and not..."
„W-Wait... you w-want me to move in with... you?" he stammered with growing nervousness. What the fuck...?
„Obviously, babe!" his lover sighed, nuzzling into his neck with blissed-out purrs that sent his heart to stop and then double its rhythm. „You're mine now, and I do very much intend to take proper care of you, my cute Raha. Pamper you as your beauty deserves..." he chuckled when Raha scoffed at that automatically, even as his face grew impossibly hot. „Were you a female, babe, I would love nothing more than to mate you, too, so you're completely mine..." he trailed off with a kind of... wistful sigh. Then he seemed to catch himself and cleared his throat a tad awkwardly, shifting off him to lay on his side, then pulled him along, soon engulfing him into a tight, possessive embrace. And as embarrassing as it was to think... he quite liked how – with how much bigger Senri was than him – he felt literally surrounded by his heat. Offering his left arm as his pillow, with his right crossing his chest and keeping his back tight against the heat of his chest, his lover's inky, long tail wrapped around his thigh and when he somewhat hesitantly – and with a scorching blush- parted his legs slightly to accommodate it, the appendage coiled about his right thigh into a leash, keeping his ass tight against Senri's groin while the black-haired Seeker rewarded him with a round of near-deafening purrs against his ears, rubbing his chin on top of his messy hair. And his lover's cock – still at least half-hard – resting pressed snug between his legs perhaps should be unnerving... or something, but he realized that he enjoyed that too: the proof and reminder of his want.
And surrounded by his heat and delicious mix of their scents, he almost drifted off before Senri's deep voice again rumbled by his ears as his arm tightened across his chest.
„When I was a kit, my mom used to tell me stories, and I couldn't help but love the idea of mating, babe. I'm really possessive, I admit, and the notion of having my very own mate to care of... seemed like a glorious dream," he sighed again in that wistful way. „I think that's what made it the hardest when I realized... I don't find females attractive. Then... they wouldn't stop to pester me... and such, so enamored with my appearance that without asking what I wanted, they assumed I'll became the Nunh of our tribe... our part of it, I mean... and by the time I left, I developed a severe aversion to touch..."
'He doesn't like to be touched,' he remembered Alisaie saying over that call. And somewhat hesitantly, he lifted his hand and rubbed it over his lover's forearm.
„...yeah, the way you feel, babe," Senri purred insistently, then sent a shiver down his spine as he nipped on the sensitive shell of his ear. „I can't get enough... but for me, it's not a... norm, you have to understand. And since I've been... Blessed, all of my senses are very heightened, too. Most of the time, I can't stand other people's natural scents, much less any type of perfume or some spices... But you, Raha, smell so mouth-wateringly delicious... every whiff makes me want to eat you alive... and you taste even better. That night at the tavern... Azeyma, now I'm glad I picked Limsa to get drunk!"
„And..." he hesitated, slightly tightening his fingers over Senri's forearm if he hoped that his voice sounded neutral enough. „...that man you have the crush on...?"
„Had," his lover chortled, tightening his arm and tail around him possessively. „And I think Thancred's mostly relieved about the development, too..."
„...Thancred?" his lashes parted, and eyes drifted toward the door of Senri's bedroom. „That Thancred...?"
„Mhmm, why... jealous, babe?" he sounded far too pleased for Raha's liking, especially since he wasn't wrong. But considering that the Hyur seemed like a strong, capable man... was it really surprising? Surely, he would be a far better match for Senri than him... and that burn in his chest was growing unbearably as he half-consciously growled toward the door. Entangled into the muscular frame of his Warrior, the thought of letting anyone else know this bliss, take it from him... had something utterly primal hiss with outrage in the back of his head. So much so... he missed the way Senri's flesh between his legs grew hard and wanting as his lover growled softly into his ear. „...you are? Want me only for yourself, my cute Raha?"
„Yes!" he snapped without a thought, then gasped, finally realizing his Warrior's mounting arousal as, without changing his tight grip around him, Sen delicately rolled his hips, and the sensation of his dick rubbing against him was... most pleasant. And despite how sore he was... his insides aburn as if that flesh was still inside him, suddenly it was paramount to make it a reality. And because, for now, Senri seemed bent on pleasing him... Raha swallowed thickly and, batting away his embarrassment, licked his dry lips nervously, then exhaled slowly and smoothed his hand up to his lover's shoulder, slightly digging his fingers and his taut bicep as he arched his back, pressing his ass tighter against his cock. „...p-please...?" he stammered.
„Hmmm?" Senri purred, tightening his grip around him as his hips slowly rolled again, and his breath sped up audibly then he moaned softly when Raha matched his movement. „I thought... you're too sore, babe," he whispered into his ear as his hand moved from the redhead's shoulder down his chest, stomach and splayed possessively over his abdomen. „I would hate to hurt y-you," his breath hitched on another quiet moan, and Raha's ears flattened with bliss as he pressed more insistently against another, harder roll of Warrior's body.
„Just..." he breathed shakily, then swallowed a mouthful of saliva as that apple-like scent thickened around him, filling his head with static. „...please... need you, Sen..." he trailed off with a choked whine when his lover growled softly, and his hand trailed lower, palming his cock in a tantalizingly slow but insistent press.
„A-Azeyma..." Senri chuckled breathlessly, then with a groan, shifted behind him enough to angle just right that when Raha rolled back again, the thick head of his lover's dick pushed up into him. And he enjoyed the burn of it, mewling embarrassingly until his ass pressed tight against Warrior's pelvis, then froze. Panting harshly, he marveled at the sensation of that impossibly deep penetration, of Senri whimpering against his ears, with a loose grip over his cock keeping him tight against his body. The unbearable sensitivity of his insides let him every slightest throb of the flesh buried inside him, making him feel drunk on the sense of fullness and belonging.
„You're... mine," he heard his voice through the fog, barely audible over the mad thrum of his heartbeat. Not something he would normally dare to say out loud – to this impossibly gorgeous male that could have anyone else – but right now, as his blood sang with a sense of being owned, wanted, claimed... As Senri's grip tightened around him securely into a possessive embrace and his heartbeat pounded against his back and inside him... It felt right and so... so...
His head filled with buzz as something scorching hot and burning clamped over his heart, stealing his breath. He arched in his lover's embrace, and his hand shot behind his head, brutally fisted in ink-black hair as a near-deafening snarl rumbled in his throat.
This he dared to take from him... Leaving him cold and empty for eons... Everything they could be together... he took, and...
His mind crashed, and all went dark.
When Raha's hand clenched painfully in his hair, and his lover arched in his arm with a snarl, Senri's senses dulled, the sounds distorted, and his vision grew dark, announcing the activation of the Echo.
His head – and heart – were so full of his man's tantalizing, intoxicating sounds he barely registered when the redhead suddenly tightened his hand in his hair painfully. "…Ares… Bond with me?" he whispered barely audibly, and he froze as his heart just… stopped.
Less than two years into their relationship… he would never expect… Hoped, perhaps… but wouldn't dare to ask himself.
"Are… you sure?" it was not something to treat lightly, even he, in his wild ways, understood that. Bond was unbreakable and eternal – and the wrong pick could cost one's soul. So even as his heart stuttered and tripled its rhythm, he chuckled sheepishly, then kissed his lover's neck tenderly, tightening his hand around his hip and rolling his hips slowly, tearing a surprised gasp from Damon's mouth. "Let's… talk about it later? When your head is cooler, love…."
That earned him an indignant hiss and a near-violent buckle, forcing him off and to roll to his back, blinking rapidly while Damon grabbed his wrists and, with a dark scowl, pinned them down above his head, something almost… scary in his bright, cyan eyes as he settled on top of him, straddling his waist.
"Do you honestly believe I didn't think of it at length, Ares?" his lover scoffed, then freed one hand to wrap his fingers around his chin on hold his head unmoving when he leaned down and brushed his bruised, plush lips against his in an infinitely delicate caress. "I want you… As nothing and no one else or ever before… And I think I'm smart enough to know what I want… agreed?"
"If you say so…" he used his crooked grin to cover his sudden uncertainty. "But… it's eternal, Damon. And I couldn't stand if you would come to regret…."
"I won't," his lover deadpanned, then narrowed his eyes at him even as his handsome face colored beautifully, and he bit his lower lip with a hint of uncertainty. "Unless… you don't want to?"
"I love you," he whispered and tried to convey his certainty of that with his gaze alone as his face heated up unbearably. "And there's nothing I want more, my heart…."
"Marvelous," a devious, smug smirk bloomed on his lover's face, and he knew instantly he was played by his brilliant man… and couldn't find it in himself to mind as then they exchanged the same bright, lovesick grins and then his lover's mouth fell on his and took his breath and mind away.
The vision shifted, changing.
Drunk on the promise of eternity with his beautiful scholar, Ares couldn't help his downright ridiculous grin as he passed the long corridor of the Bureau of the Architect, then neared his lover's office, determined to convince his brilliant man to set his responsibilities aside for a today early and join him for a trip to his parents' domain to announce their decision. He knew that they adored his redhead and was sure that especially his mother, Cassiopeia, would be ecstatic about it - like him able to see the glory of Damon's soul. The promise contained in the fiery shades of its glorious reds.
The sheer mind-shattering scope of the love his scholar had to offer – if one broke through the dull blankness he protected his heart with.
Their people believed his Damon cold and unfeeling – admiring him for that – while it was so very far from the truth...
„...who I choose to Bond with is none of your bussiness," his lover's downright chilling voice stopped him in his tracks right by the door of his office, left slightly ajar.
„You gone mad, Damon," the voice of an unfamiliar female sounded disgusted and beyond aggravated. „And whose business it is if not mine? We raised you to be perfect, son, and not... waste your potential on a man that is a complete failure in everything that matters. What is that he can offer you, son? Other than the scorn and ridicule of our society? Or are the rumors true and he used that infamous ability of his for you to agree to this insanity? Bent as he is on disregarding our customs, I can imagine he sees it as amusing to claim the very best..."
„Watch your tongue, mother, or I'll show you exactly what is my potential," his lover hissed with uncharacteristical outrage.
„You would threaten me? For him?" If possible, the disgust only grew in her tone and Ares backed away a step instinctively, now understanding why Damon never spoke of his parents. „Already he tainted your mind. Your gift is to serve Eitherys, boy, not a reject that would only drag you down!"
„Get out!" Damon snapped. „And until you're ready to accept my pick, I don't want to see or hear from you again, are we clear? And the next you think to insult my future husband, you'll pay, mother, just like anyone else."
„You are possessed!"
„I am and I would fucking use this gift, that you find so precious, to turn this world to ashes if Ares wouldn't hate it! One word of his, mother, and I would... because opposite to you and everyone else, he doesn't see me as a tool. Doesn't want my intelligence or gift, but me! And for that alone, for him, I'll do more than harm you or anyone else who think to get between us."
„You're going to regret this, Damon," the woman hissed with no less outrage and Ares flinched, if with some amusement thinking that he could see where his lover's temper came from and wonderer if she even realized... „If you think I'll let you shame me and your father with this nonsense..."
„That's what this all is about, isn't it?" Damon's voice cooled to ice. „Not about me, but about your 'project' slipping the leash. You don't care that he loves me or that I love him... All you care about is gathering praises for 'creating' me. Get out, mother, and better keep in mind what I said about ever again insulting Ares in my presance."
„Fool!" the door moved and he backed away, holding his breath when a woman left his lover's office visibly nearly shaking with rage. Mask covered her expression but seeing him she thinned her lips. The only similarity he could see between her and Damon was the shade of her hair, cropped in line with her jaw. He thought she's going to say something, but she slammed the door close behind her then set to walk past him... or so he thought before right next to him, her full lips tilted into a vicious smirk and her hand caught his for a second, leaving a burning impression before she let go and walked off, soon dissapearing behind the turn of the corridor.
Ares blinked, then shook his head, trying to chase off a fuzzy sensation that settled over his senses before he looked toward the closed door. What was he...?
Ah... yes, he remembered, rubbing his hand against the material of his robe as it itched for a moment before the sensation melted away. He had to use his gift to stop Damon from making a huge mistake of Bonding to him. He was too... perfect and reject like him would only drag him down... He had to make Damon hate him, recoil even on the mention of his name and never want to approach him again... That was for the best, for Damon's sake...
He set his jaw with determination and headed toward the closed door, set in the goal... despite that fuzzy sensation churning in the back of his head.
Senri blinked slowly as the vision melted away if it didn't help much with his blurry sight. Relaxing his grip around his lover's limp body, he sat up, then rubbed his hand over his face. And as the understanding slowly sank in, making his heart stutter unevenly, he took a deep breath. After pulling one of the blankets over himself and his lover's bodies, he turned his eyes toward the ceiling of his bedroom and cleared his throat.
„Hades, a moment?" he said hoarsely and smiled wryly when once he opened his eyes, the impossibly tall immortal materialized outside of his nest with an unreadable expression.
„Yes, Senri?" the immortal drawled, not even glancing at his redhead, but his unnaturally bright, golden eyes focused solely on Senri's face. He was used to that, knowing that despite eons... his friend missed his older brother.
„Does the name 'Damon' tells you anything...?" he asked carefully. Before the immortal even opened his mouth, he knew the answer when his eyes briefly darted toward the unconscious redhead. „I see it does," he sighed, then ran his fingers through his hair.
„He was a very famous man among our people back then," Hades said slowly, folding his arms over his chest. „A most brilliant man, they called him, and the true prodigy with a gift able to bend reality to his ideas if he was so inclined. Why do you ask?"
„I had a vision..." he trailed off, then took a deeper breath and tightened his jaw, looking up straight into the brilliantly golden irises. „But let me riddle you this... theoretically if Ares were Bonded to someone... that would make that person's reincarnation my soulmate, yes..? Like with Shtola and Rahm... even if that would be a man...?"
Hades's white eyebrows lifted slightly as his eyes narrowed at him with consideration.
„...I suppose?" he finally replied, then tilted his head with obvious curiosity. „It was not common, but my and Hyth's example prove that it is... was a possibility. Where are you going with this, Senri? If you think..." he tossed a look toward Raha again, and a slight grimace tilted his lips. „I must warn you, boy, that his... predecessor very famously hated my brother, so whatever idea is rolling about that head of yours..."
„That's the thing..." he sighed, then turning slightly, brushed his hand over his lover's beautiful, messy hair. „What I saw... I think Ares made Damon hate him... with his gift, I mean. Echo is never wrong, Hades, and they were... In it, they were very in love and intended to Bond."
A moment of silence, then...
„Changing someone's feelings... That would go against everything my brother stood for, boy. And if he did love him... He was very much like you, Senri, why would he..."
„I think he was made to do that... and didn't realize, Hades," he said, looking at him again and watching the immortal scowl. „What do you know about that... Damon's mother...?"
„Apate...?" Hades lifted his hand and rubbed his chin with consideration. „Brilliant scholar, though she was long gone before my time..." he trailed off as his scowl grew more pronounced, and his bright eyes narrowed into slits when he dropped that hand, crossing it with the other over his chest again. „...I would have to ask Hythlodaeus... but I think she was quite known for the ability to manipulate the gifts of others."
Senri nodded, as that more than confirmed what he already suspected, then sighed and shook his head slightly, looking toward his lover again.
„...not like it matters," he muttered, delicately touching Raha's cheek. It was stupid to feel disappointment over something that happened literally millennia ago, but the thought that if that bitch wouldn't interfere...
„It does matter, boy," the immortal drawled, and when Senri looked toward him, his expression showed a very uncommon outrage. „My brother... You cannot imagine his loneliness, Senri. For millennia even before I was born... all rejected him for something he had no control over. Until even our parents could no longer stand looking at it and had me... so that he had at least one person who would love him when they were gone. But having Hyth... That could never be enough, I understood. I watched him wither over eons, and I watched the relief on his face when our world was about to unravel, boy... And if you're telling me now that all that because some... bitch chose to meddle and robbed him of..." he trailed off and took a deep breath, looking away. „I know you cannot imagine, Senri... but the unfairness of it is... it burns."
„I think... I can, Hades," he whispered, then sighed sadly. „But I meant... it's not like anything can be done about that, yes? They're long gone..."
Hades worked his jaw for a moment... then froze, and his gaze shot back toward him.
„Unless..." he started, and a slow, almost devious smirk tilted his lips. „...we improvise."
And knowing his – and his husband's – notion of 'improvising,' Senri paled.
„...how?" he finally dared.
„Well... Meteion might be gone, but you're still bound to travel back to Elpis, yes?" the immortal hummed casually. „We believed that we could wait with that, but we did have all the parts necessary for the alteration of the Tower gathered. Better, even, for being preserved fresh... We also have Cid at hand and eons of siphoned aether waiting in the reservoir... Let's say we 'tweak' your destination, boy... and time of arrival by a few millennia – enough to have you pop in and straighten that situation, hm?"
„But..." he hesitated, staring at him with astonishment. „...it wouldn't change anything for us, yes? Hence you said it could wait. It wouldn't change what happened with Ares... right?"
„Theoretically... As I said, Damon had a gift to bend reality, Senri, so if he would be, perhaps, grateful for this intervention... who knows?" Hades shrugged carelessly, and Senri snorted involuntarily, more than recognizing the look in his golden eyes. Over the years, Hades told him many times that his brother was known as 'wild' for a reason, and he thought that he could easily imagine that raised to that, Hades more than took after him in some regards.
When they first approached him in Preatorium, he was beyond... shocked – as was Lahabrea, no doubt – when the tall, golden-eyed immortal unceremoniously plunged his hand into the Ascian's chest and tore his heart out alongside the small, silver crystal, then spat on his corpse. To say that made an impression on him... was an understatement!
Then he and his violet-haired husband explained the whole situation... and started improvising when they figured out that their pieces of information weren't always quite... right. Alongside Themis – freed from that crystal and quite cranky about being stuffed in it in the first place – Senri could only watch the chaos... and occasionally laughed himself silly at the developments.
Like when Thordan VII, previous archbishop of Ishgard, made the lethal mistake of insulting Hyth in Hades's presence or the way Zenos got berated into oblivion by his grandsire for 'being a brat' and sulking went back to Garlemald. Or how after dealing with Meteion, they unanimously elected to feed Fandaniel to Zodiark, and Themis took a special thrill out of bitch-slapping it into none-existence, freeing Gaia of following it along.
So far, he knew, it wasn't exactly supposed to go like that – and they still had a few points on their 'list' to uncheck – but since, for the most part, it was saving him a headache (not to mention few of his friends that were otherwise supposed to die, apparently) he mostly... rolled with that. And years down the road, he would be hard-pressed to disagree with their ideas... if this one, in particular, sounded quite especially insane.
But if it gave the ability to mate with Raha...?
...if he was born in the first place, that is...
„And what if... you wouldn't be born then?" he asked softly, looking between the unconscious redhead and the immortal.
„For Ares..." Something impossibly sad flared in the golden irises. „...I'm willing to risk it. He could have slipped into the aetherial sea at any point... but he stayed: for me. Because hearing what was supposed to be my fate... he did all he could to stop it from coming to pass. He convinced Hythlodaeus to let go of his doubts and gave meaning to my existence in a way you can't imagine, boy. And if there's even a chance that I could repay him for that..." he trailed off meaningfully, then sighed. „But that neither here nor there... I'll run this idea by the others, and we'll see... But thank you, Senri, for sharing that vision with me. And do remember to deal with those mortals, hm? Their prodding on the Tower's defenses is... aggravating."
„I'll send them packing tomorrow," he promised with a chuckle, and Hades inclined his head, then warped away in him only known direction.
Senri sighed, then laid down and once more wrapped himself around his lover's body, greedily drinking in his spicy scent.
„I don't know how it'll turn out," he whispered, nuzzling against his ear with low, blissed-out purrs. „But I knew you were meant to be mine, my cute Raha."
„What are thinking of so... fiercely, love?" her lover asked, shaking Shtola out of reverie, and she sighed, running her fingers through his blonde hair. Resting with his head on top of her abdomen, she smiled involuntarily when Rahm started purring, rubbing his cheek against her skin.
Getting... irritated that she insisted on staying in Rising Stones instead of coming home, her mate decided to track her down to demand... recompense for already last night sleeping alone. A price she paid gladly if, while the heat of the afterglow waned, she couldn't help how her mind ran right back to her current worries.
„Senri," she sighed softly and chuckled sheepishly when her lover groaned loudly and tilted his head to send her a narrowed stare of his gorgeous, mismatched eyes. „Not like that, silly," she snickered.
„Excuse me, love, but considering his looks... no man wants to hear their mate say she's thinking about him when in bed," he drawled, climbing up her body to kiss her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, then laughed when pulling back, he very pointedly pouted. „So... what did he do now? I thought the healing went fine...?"
„It did... but that's not what I'm worried about," she admitted. „More so about the fact that he seems... enamored with a completely wrong person."
„Senri... enamored?" her ridiculous soulmate gushed, pressing his hand over his chest. „Be still, my heart. The world is about to end... again! Who's the wretch that put that frown on your beautiful face, my Shtola? Must I have words with my brother-in-arms about... you know? Oh, no...! Eorzea will drown in the tears of maidens that had their hearts set on being the 'one' to snag him... We should call the Alliance post haste to prepare for the flood!"
„Silly man," she was laughing as she pressed her hand over his mouth, and he let her, wiggling his blonde eyebrows playfully. „I'm serious, though, Rahm. That man, G'raha Tia... Back in Old Sharlayan had the reputation of... well, a whore, pretty much. What if he's going to..."
The blonde Seeker sighed and pulled her hand back from his face, if not without setting a kiss in the middle of her palm.
„I know you love Senri, Shtola, but I think... you worry too much. He's not a kit, and Azeyma knows... if he finally found someone to make him happy... I would rut for them instead of worrying about silly things like reputation. Watching him pine after Thancred was hard enough... And hey, considering that I really think he probably never done the deed, having a more experienced lover must come in handy."
„But you know how he is..." she sighed, frowning. „He'll let that man walk all over him. A normal person can get overwhelmed when in their very first relationship..."
„And Senri's as far from normal as possible, I know..." Rahm blew a raspberry, then turned to rest on his back against the bed's headboard, pulling her to rest over his chest. „Let me take a stock of that man for you in the morning, hm? With my Echo it will be easy enough to gauge his intentions toward Sen."
Because none could lie to O'rahm Xoorha and get away with that. According to Hythlodaeus, his father's gift worked very much the same. And her soulmate was the reincarnation of that man, Erebus, the Pashtarot of Convocation of Fourteen. It didn't always work like that, if she more than suspected that the way Senri could always charm everyone around him was also somewhat connected with Ares's infamous ability.
„...if you could, love, I would appreciate that," she replied, burying her face against his throat and enjoying his scent.
„All for your peace of mind, my heart," Rahm hummed, kissing her temple.