[Tales of the Abyss] 'Happy Ending' (Jade/Peony)
Written for the 31_days theme: 12. one thing I can treat myself to, and if it's to be had I mean to have it. Nephry's getting married and Peony's learning the difference between getting what you want and getting what you need. Peony/Jade, spoilers for... uh, well, some of the skits you get in Grand Chokmah, I suppose. And Peony Gaiden.
I might have rushed ending because I wanted to finish this before midnight. :P
Happy Ending
Cephied Variable
"Would it be presumptuous of me to assume you're not going?"
Peony didn't even look up from the wrinkled mess of official documents spread out across the floor of his study. He was sitting cross-legged with his chin in his palm, chewing disconcertingly on his bottom lip, "Most of my advisers are idiots, you know that, right Jade?"
Jade sighed and crossed the room, stopping when his toes hit the edge of the paper-sea, "Your majesty," he began, but Peony cut him off.
"Absolute morons! They hardly have the brain of a boar between them! I'm getting to the point where I wish we had an absolute monarchy or something. Then every one of them would be out on their assess and I could do whatever I wanted." Peony pouted, and finally looked up. The lines under his eyes were well past being metaphorical "bags" and had delved into the territory of requiring a simile along the lines of "ditches" or "earthquake wrought caverns".
"Lorelei forbid," Jade replied smoothly and predictably, adjusting his glasses, "Lest the country fall into financial ruin."
Peony rolled his eyes- "Well, my hobbies aside, at least we wouldn't be constantly teetering on the brink of war. It's..." the young Emperor trailed off into a yawn and rubbed his eyes lazily, "... exhausting." he finished tiredly, shaking his head.
"Obviously," deadpanned Jade, "Be that as it may, don't think you've cleverly avoided answering the original question."
"Oh, Jade, for-" Peony's aborted sentence disappeared in wordless grumble and the blonde hastily swept the papers aside in a poor attempt at organization, "I don't know what you expect from me. Did you think I would go? To the wedding of the woman I love? Yeah, okay. Sounds like a blast, I can't wait!"
"Well, she did invite you."
Peony pressed his eyes shut, "I know, I know. But what do you think, Jade? In all honesty, tell me what you think? I could either serve her new husband a mild insult by not showing my face in Keterburg for the next few months, or I could force her to watch me try my best to smile- and fail, mind you- during the entire ceremony. Which way will she be happier?"
Jade didn't answer, and Peony opened his eyes, "Do you really think I should go?"
"Of course not," Jade advised easily, "Especially not if you're going to arrive there with the assumption that Nephry still pines for you."
"Heh, that's the thing," Peony chuckled bitterly and leant back on his palms, "If she doesn't still... if I have to watch at her look at her husband with even a fraction of the love she used to look at me with I... I just..." he shook his head ruefully, "Well, it doesn't matter, does it? It's over now."
"Reasonably mature of you," Jade calmly adjusted his glasses, trying his best to ignore the odd look his best friend was shooting him. He recognized that uneven gaze and was hardly surprised when the Emperor ordered: "Help me up," with a lopsided grin. Jade sighed and offered his hand with a subtle eyeroll, falling all the easier into Peony's lap when the blonde tugged him down.
"This is hard enough without you mocking me, you know?" Peony whispered, running his thumb along the edge of Jade's cheekbone. He reached up to delicately remove the colonel's glasses before kissing him gently. Jade didn't exactly break the kiss, but he certainly maneuvered his glasses out of the Emperor's loose grasp, pushing a distance between them the moment his friend's lips left his.
"As much as I do enjoy it when you kiss me while thinking of my sister," Jade intoned without missing a beat, "I was asked by Sesseman to fetch you. The Kimlascan ambassador has finally arrived, and I doubt he would take "molesting a minor military official" as a valid excuse to keep him waiting."
Peony laughed- honestly this time- and buried his face in Jade's shoulder, "Man, you never pull your punches."
"With all due respect," Jade smiled, untangling himself from Peony and elegantly raising himself to his feet, "I'm not sure Your Majesty would have me any other way."
This time when Jade offered his hand, Peony allowed himself to be pulled up.
* * *
His sister wasn't happy, her groom wasn't self-aware enough to be worth analyzing and the guests were placated by the notion of timeless romance not because they were particularly happy for Nephry, but because weddings were a good time to live vicariously through someone else's accomplishments. All in all, it wouldn't have been an intolerable experience had Jade not been famous. Unfortunately, he was, and all of Keterburg was eager to ask him about the capital, about his experiences in the last war, about the current border tension and, of course, just why was he called Necromancer anyways? When all Jade really wanted was to observe the proceedings quietly from the back of the room and practice saying: "Following the Score was the only wise decision, Nephry." without sounding sarcastic.
Jade abhorred lengthy explanations, specifically ones that involved detailing complex experiences to people who were only half-listening anyways, but he could almost hear Peony chastising him ("Oh Jade, you don't enjoy anything.") in the back of his head, so instead of brushing them off completely, he settled for telling anyone who asked a ridiculous story that couldn't possibly be true.
"Oh yes," he assured the plump, middle-aged noblewoman (who'd grown, she whined, so tired of the bustle and hustle of Grand Chokmah), "You moved to Keterburg at exactly the right time. The capital is almost entirely submerged in water now. I've recently been asked to research a way for humans to breath under water so we won't have to evacuate the city within the next year." The look on her face was so utterly baffled (and half-convinced) that Jade struggled not to crack a smile before she turned around to amble back to the reception.
"I haven't seen you so satisfied with yourself in quite a while," Nephry observed lightly, sidling up to her brother quietly. He shot her a bemused side-glance and replied:
"I tend to forget the... quality of noblemen that populate Keterburg. The aristocracy in Grand Chokmah isn't nearly so fun."
Nephry smiled and threaded her hands together over her dress. She wasn't as unhappy as Jade had expected her to be. She certainly wasn't beaming as the wedding-day cliche would have her, but she looked content at the very least. Nephry was resigned, not satisfied, however Jade was already composing the lie he'd tell Peony back in the capital; if Nephry wanted to lie in her letters to the Emperor, who was Jade to contradict her?
Besides, as long as Peony believed that Nephry loved her new husband... Jade stopped himself there. There were some things one simply shouldn't be thinking about at a wedding. He sighed heavily and Nephry fixed him with a serious look.
"You haven't said much."
"What is there to say?" Jade shrugged, "I'm not certain I approve of a situation that's making both of you so unhappy, but you're doing what you think is right. It's not my place to say anything."
Nephry laughed, hiding her mouth behind a gloved hand, "Is that so, Jade? That's very out of character for you."
Jade raised his eyebrows, "Why Nephry, are you accusing me of being a meddler?"
"Hmm, not exactly," Nephry lowered her gaze, "Although I've always gotten the impression that you didn't approve of Peony and I's relationship."
Jade bristled slightly at her words, but composed himself quickly, "Well, he is six years your elder, which at the time was... objectionable to say the least."
"Understandable," Nephry agreed.
"Moreover," Jade continued, tapping his glasses out of habit, "He is Peony and I know His Majesty well enough to have... justified reasons for my concern."
"Of course," Nephry agreed again, looking up at her brother with an unreadable expression, "No one knows Peony better than you, do they?"
Jade stared back at her, attempting to discern the hidden meaning in her words but before he could catch the double-speak in her gaze, she forced a smile and took a step back, dipping into a graceful curtsy, "Now, considering it was my dearest brother who walked the bride down the aisle, I'm left wondering why he hasn't yet asked her for a dance?" she daintily held out one of her hands, palm up. With the most sincere smile he'd worn all night, Jade took his sister's hand and led her out onto the dance floor. After all, he'd told more than one Keterburgian noble that night that he'd earned the name "Necromancer" not because he harvested the bodies of the dead to fight for the Malkuthian army, but rather that he used the corpses to stage elaborate ballets on the battlefield in order to keep up morale. Of course, neither story was true, but it would still be a shame to disappoint them.
* * *
"I guess it's not so bad," Peony commented cryptically a month after the wedding. He was lounging about in Jade's office as usual- Jade winced at the idea that the Emperor's visits had become "usual" enough that a microcosm of Peony's quarters had begun accumulating in the corner of the office no matter how many times Jade attempted to tidy it. The Emperor was sitting on the edge of Jade's desk, watching the colonel sketch fonic glyphs for blasting in the Akzeruith mines. He was humming to himself a sort of half tune Jade might have recognized had he not stopped every few moments to make independent statements lacking in explanation.
"If you're commenting on something other than my glyphs- which, no, are not "bad" at all- perhaps you'd like to elaborate." Jade offered, putting down his pen and making a wide gesture with his hand.
"Oh," Peony tipped his head back so that he could meet Jade's eyes full on, "I was just thinking about the letter I got from Nephry the other day."
Jade narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Curious that a letter from Nephry would put you in such a good mood."
"Heh, well," Peony smiled a little bitterly, "I can assure you that I was in anything but a good mood when I read it. But having had a few days to think about..." he glanced aside, his body language becoming all at once less confident, "She told me she'd been lying about being over me."
Jade blinked in surprise and Peony looked back, conflicted grin settling into a thin, knowing line, "You knew, didn't you?"
Jade shrugged, "I can't lie."
"Actually, yes," Peony pointed out, "You can. You're pretty good at it, in fact."
"What else did she say?" Jade wondered, preferring not to pursue that line of conversation.
Peony sighed, "The usual thing people say when they're trying to make someone feel better. That what we're doing is better for the world, the Score, the Kingdom, cetera, cetera. You Balfours are sure good at talking down to people you trust, you know." he glared at Jade pointedly, but Jade simply shrugged again.
"Anyways," Peony continued, "The important part is what she said about you."
"Me?" Jade echoed, honestly curious.
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing. She said something about not having to worry about me as long as you were here to take care of me. And then," Peony shifted his position so that his legs were slung over the corner of the desk. He placed his hands on the arms of Jade's chair and lowered his voice a fraction, "She said that 'we don't always get the things we want in life, but it's much better to settle for the things we need'."
"Really. Nephry said that did she?" Jade tried his best to sound disinterested, but he couldn't hide the tremor of shock in his tone completely. Honestly, even after all these years his sister continued to surprise him.
"Did you tell her?" Peony demanded seriously.
Jade shook his head, "I had my suspicions that she knew, but no. Nephry figured this one out on her own."
Peony deflated with a half-sigh, half-chuckle, brushing his messy bangs out of his eyes, "Nephry really is amazing, isn't she?"
"Your Majesty?"
"She was right." Peony touched Jade's face awkwardly, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Have one less name for your pets," Jade muttered, leaning into the touch.
Peony laughed, "Less creepy rumours flying around the castle,"
"And you would probably," Jade added, a bit sardonically "Fall prey to your moronic advisers."
"Ugh," Peony groaned, "Don't remind me." he slid his hand to cup Jade's face and tip it towards the light, "So being stuck with you. It's not so bad. I feel a little old to be learning this- but I guess some people never do- but life is about getting what you need. It happens to everyone."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Jade commented wryly, snaking a hand around the back of Peony's neck, "I, for one, have exactly what I want." he pulled Peony into a biting kiss before the Emperor could say anything dumb, defensive or true about that statement. Jade knew all about needing and wanting, but he also knew about waiting patiently, biding your time and taking advantage of a situation. He knew that in a case like this, it would have been worse not to.
The next day he wrote his sister a letter: Thank you for your blessing. Despite all she'd said, he was glad he'd never have to see the look on her face when she read it.
fin.
Word Count: 2189
I might have rushed ending because I wanted to finish this before midnight. :P
Happy Ending
Cephied Variable
"Would it be presumptuous of me to assume you're not going?"
Peony didn't even look up from the wrinkled mess of official documents spread out across the floor of his study. He was sitting cross-legged with his chin in his palm, chewing disconcertingly on his bottom lip, "Most of my advisers are idiots, you know that, right Jade?"
Jade sighed and crossed the room, stopping when his toes hit the edge of the paper-sea, "Your majesty," he began, but Peony cut him off.
"Absolute morons! They hardly have the brain of a boar between them! I'm getting to the point where I wish we had an absolute monarchy or something. Then every one of them would be out on their assess and I could do whatever I wanted." Peony pouted, and finally looked up. The lines under his eyes were well past being metaphorical "bags" and had delved into the territory of requiring a simile along the lines of "ditches" or "earthquake wrought caverns".
"Lorelei forbid," Jade replied smoothly and predictably, adjusting his glasses, "Lest the country fall into financial ruin."
Peony rolled his eyes- "Well, my hobbies aside, at least we wouldn't be constantly teetering on the brink of war. It's..." the young Emperor trailed off into a yawn and rubbed his eyes lazily, "... exhausting." he finished tiredly, shaking his head.
"Obviously," deadpanned Jade, "Be that as it may, don't think you've cleverly avoided answering the original question."
"Oh, Jade, for-" Peony's aborted sentence disappeared in wordless grumble and the blonde hastily swept the papers aside in a poor attempt at organization, "I don't know what you expect from me. Did you think I would go? To the wedding of the woman I love? Yeah, okay. Sounds like a blast, I can't wait!"
"Well, she did invite you."
Peony pressed his eyes shut, "I know, I know. But what do you think, Jade? In all honesty, tell me what you think? I could either serve her new husband a mild insult by not showing my face in Keterburg for the next few months, or I could force her to watch me try my best to smile- and fail, mind you- during the entire ceremony. Which way will she be happier?"
Jade didn't answer, and Peony opened his eyes, "Do you really think I should go?"
"Of course not," Jade advised easily, "Especially not if you're going to arrive there with the assumption that Nephry still pines for you."
"Heh, that's the thing," Peony chuckled bitterly and leant back on his palms, "If she doesn't still... if I have to watch at her look at her husband with even a fraction of the love she used to look at me with I... I just..." he shook his head ruefully, "Well, it doesn't matter, does it? It's over now."
"Reasonably mature of you," Jade calmly adjusted his glasses, trying his best to ignore the odd look his best friend was shooting him. He recognized that uneven gaze and was hardly surprised when the Emperor ordered: "Help me up," with a lopsided grin. Jade sighed and offered his hand with a subtle eyeroll, falling all the easier into Peony's lap when the blonde tugged him down.
"This is hard enough without you mocking me, you know?" Peony whispered, running his thumb along the edge of Jade's cheekbone. He reached up to delicately remove the colonel's glasses before kissing him gently. Jade didn't exactly break the kiss, but he certainly maneuvered his glasses out of the Emperor's loose grasp, pushing a distance between them the moment his friend's lips left his.
"As much as I do enjoy it when you kiss me while thinking of my sister," Jade intoned without missing a beat, "I was asked by Sesseman to fetch you. The Kimlascan ambassador has finally arrived, and I doubt he would take "molesting a minor military official" as a valid excuse to keep him waiting."
Peony laughed- honestly this time- and buried his face in Jade's shoulder, "Man, you never pull your punches."
"With all due respect," Jade smiled, untangling himself from Peony and elegantly raising himself to his feet, "I'm not sure Your Majesty would have me any other way."
This time when Jade offered his hand, Peony allowed himself to be pulled up.
* * *
His sister wasn't happy, her groom wasn't self-aware enough to be worth analyzing and the guests were placated by the notion of timeless romance not because they were particularly happy for Nephry, but because weddings were a good time to live vicariously through someone else's accomplishments. All in all, it wouldn't have been an intolerable experience had Jade not been famous. Unfortunately, he was, and all of Keterburg was eager to ask him about the capital, about his experiences in the last war, about the current border tension and, of course, just why was he called Necromancer anyways? When all Jade really wanted was to observe the proceedings quietly from the back of the room and practice saying: "Following the Score was the only wise decision, Nephry." without sounding sarcastic.
Jade abhorred lengthy explanations, specifically ones that involved detailing complex experiences to people who were only half-listening anyways, but he could almost hear Peony chastising him ("Oh Jade, you don't enjoy anything.") in the back of his head, so instead of brushing them off completely, he settled for telling anyone who asked a ridiculous story that couldn't possibly be true.
"Oh yes," he assured the plump, middle-aged noblewoman (who'd grown, she whined, so tired of the bustle and hustle of Grand Chokmah), "You moved to Keterburg at exactly the right time. The capital is almost entirely submerged in water now. I've recently been asked to research a way for humans to breath under water so we won't have to evacuate the city within the next year." The look on her face was so utterly baffled (and half-convinced) that Jade struggled not to crack a smile before she turned around to amble back to the reception.
"I haven't seen you so satisfied with yourself in quite a while," Nephry observed lightly, sidling up to her brother quietly. He shot her a bemused side-glance and replied:
"I tend to forget the... quality of noblemen that populate Keterburg. The aristocracy in Grand Chokmah isn't nearly so fun."
Nephry smiled and threaded her hands together over her dress. She wasn't as unhappy as Jade had expected her to be. She certainly wasn't beaming as the wedding-day cliche would have her, but she looked content at the very least. Nephry was resigned, not satisfied, however Jade was already composing the lie he'd tell Peony back in the capital; if Nephry wanted to lie in her letters to the Emperor, who was Jade to contradict her?
Besides, as long as Peony believed that Nephry loved her new husband... Jade stopped himself there. There were some things one simply shouldn't be thinking about at a wedding. He sighed heavily and Nephry fixed him with a serious look.
"You haven't said much."
"What is there to say?" Jade shrugged, "I'm not certain I approve of a situation that's making both of you so unhappy, but you're doing what you think is right. It's not my place to say anything."
Nephry laughed, hiding her mouth behind a gloved hand, "Is that so, Jade? That's very out of character for you."
Jade raised his eyebrows, "Why Nephry, are you accusing me of being a meddler?"
"Hmm, not exactly," Nephry lowered her gaze, "Although I've always gotten the impression that you didn't approve of Peony and I's relationship."
Jade bristled slightly at her words, but composed himself quickly, "Well, he is six years your elder, which at the time was... objectionable to say the least."
"Understandable," Nephry agreed.
"Moreover," Jade continued, tapping his glasses out of habit, "He is Peony and I know His Majesty well enough to have... justified reasons for my concern."
"Of course," Nephry agreed again, looking up at her brother with an unreadable expression, "No one knows Peony better than you, do they?"
Jade stared back at her, attempting to discern the hidden meaning in her words but before he could catch the double-speak in her gaze, she forced a smile and took a step back, dipping into a graceful curtsy, "Now, considering it was my dearest brother who walked the bride down the aisle, I'm left wondering why he hasn't yet asked her for a dance?" she daintily held out one of her hands, palm up. With the most sincere smile he'd worn all night, Jade took his sister's hand and led her out onto the dance floor. After all, he'd told more than one Keterburgian noble that night that he'd earned the name "Necromancer" not because he harvested the bodies of the dead to fight for the Malkuthian army, but rather that he used the corpses to stage elaborate ballets on the battlefield in order to keep up morale. Of course, neither story was true, but it would still be a shame to disappoint them.
* * *
"I guess it's not so bad," Peony commented cryptically a month after the wedding. He was lounging about in Jade's office as usual- Jade winced at the idea that the Emperor's visits had become "usual" enough that a microcosm of Peony's quarters had begun accumulating in the corner of the office no matter how many times Jade attempted to tidy it. The Emperor was sitting on the edge of Jade's desk, watching the colonel sketch fonic glyphs for blasting in the Akzeruith mines. He was humming to himself a sort of half tune Jade might have recognized had he not stopped every few moments to make independent statements lacking in explanation.
"If you're commenting on something other than my glyphs- which, no, are not "bad" at all- perhaps you'd like to elaborate." Jade offered, putting down his pen and making a wide gesture with his hand.
"Oh," Peony tipped his head back so that he could meet Jade's eyes full on, "I was just thinking about the letter I got from Nephry the other day."
Jade narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Curious that a letter from Nephry would put you in such a good mood."
"Heh, well," Peony smiled a little bitterly, "I can assure you that I was in anything but a good mood when I read it. But having had a few days to think about..." he glanced aside, his body language becoming all at once less confident, "She told me she'd been lying about being over me."
Jade blinked in surprise and Peony looked back, conflicted grin settling into a thin, knowing line, "You knew, didn't you?"
Jade shrugged, "I can't lie."
"Actually, yes," Peony pointed out, "You can. You're pretty good at it, in fact."
"What else did she say?" Jade wondered, preferring not to pursue that line of conversation.
Peony sighed, "The usual thing people say when they're trying to make someone feel better. That what we're doing is better for the world, the Score, the Kingdom, cetera, cetera. You Balfours are sure good at talking down to people you trust, you know." he glared at Jade pointedly, but Jade simply shrugged again.
"Anyways," Peony continued, "The important part is what she said about you."
"Me?" Jade echoed, honestly curious.
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing. She said something about not having to worry about me as long as you were here to take care of me. And then," Peony shifted his position so that his legs were slung over the corner of the desk. He placed his hands on the arms of Jade's chair and lowered his voice a fraction, "She said that 'we don't always get the things we want in life, but it's much better to settle for the things we need'."
"Really. Nephry said that did she?" Jade tried his best to sound disinterested, but he couldn't hide the tremor of shock in his tone completely. Honestly, even after all these years his sister continued to surprise him.
"Did you tell her?" Peony demanded seriously.
Jade shook his head, "I had my suspicions that she knew, but no. Nephry figured this one out on her own."
Peony deflated with a half-sigh, half-chuckle, brushing his messy bangs out of his eyes, "Nephry really is amazing, isn't she?"
"Your Majesty?"
"She was right." Peony touched Jade's face awkwardly, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Have one less name for your pets," Jade muttered, leaning into the touch.
Peony laughed, "Less creepy rumours flying around the castle,"
"And you would probably," Jade added, a bit sardonically "Fall prey to your moronic advisers."
"Ugh," Peony groaned, "Don't remind me." he slid his hand to cup Jade's face and tip it towards the light, "So being stuck with you. It's not so bad. I feel a little old to be learning this- but I guess some people never do- but life is about getting what you need. It happens to everyone."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Jade commented wryly, snaking a hand around the back of Peony's neck, "I, for one, have exactly what I want." he pulled Peony into a biting kiss before the Emperor could say anything dumb, defensive or true about that statement. Jade knew all about needing and wanting, but he also knew about waiting patiently, biding your time and taking advantage of a situation. He knew that in a case like this, it would have been worse not to.
The next day he wrote his sister a letter: Thank you for your blessing. Despite all she'd said, he was glad he'd never have to see the look on her face when she read it.
fin.
Word Count: 2189