Title: Word of the Day v. FFIV
Author: Garnet Eyes
Archived: fanfiction .net, livejournal .com
Last Updated: 29 Apr 2011
Summary: 12 June 2000 edition.
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Kain
Author Notes: plangent, adjective;
1. Beating with a loud or deep sound; as, "the plangent wave."
2. Expressing sadness; plaintive.
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy IV is owned by Square-Enix and I in no way, shape, or form profit off of my writing. This is simply for my own pleasure, and may at any time be removed and/or modified as I see fit.
...
Ever since Kain had been very young, he'd never been good with expressing himself. It was good, in a way, because highborn could not afford to show weaknesses. But sometimes he just felt helplessly embroiled and he could not release the stress. Those times ate at him, because they made him weak even when others couldn't see. He'd not even managed to shed a tear when his parents had died, although he had been devastated at the time; it was still a somewhat sore subject, but it was rare for anybody to mention the Highwind clan beyond some statement about the Last Highwind.
Sometimes, just sometimes, it irked Kain a little bit, how easy girls had it. Even highborn women were allowed to show proper emotion, and it was frowned upon to insult a woman for crying. Of course, women were weaker, so it made sense that they'd be allowed to do such things, but then why did Cecil get the same leniency? The bloodless prince was a man – not quite at his majority yet, but the point was the same – and he was an open book, but no one insulted him, or at least didn't insult him to his face. Which was probably a smart thing, because Cecil was a superior swordsman. Even if he was weird. But it still wasn't fair that Kain knew he would be looked down upon for displaying even the slightest vulnerability, and yet others were smiled upon for showing theirs.
Once in a long while, the dragoon wished he could cry – that he even had the physical ability to, because Kain was pretty sure that he couldn't.