Final Fantasy XII, Balthier/Ashe
Title: A Thief in the Night
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Pairing: Balthier/Ashe
Theme set: Gamma
Title: A Thief in the Night
Rating: PG-13
Warning[s]: A couple of suggestive themes, but nothing over the top, I think.
Notes: I am putting the prompts, in order, under the cut. However, for my personal archive, I took the prompts out of order so as to create a chronological progression; I would recommend that you read them this way here, because I feel like the original order detracts from the flow.
***
1. Ring
He takes the ring to annoy her, to motivate her, and to free her; he doesn’t think it likely that she will ever see past the first impulse, because she seems unwilling to recognize he may have unselfish motives.
2. Hero
None of them were ever meant to be heroes, but she has accustomed herself to the role as well as she can out of necessity; she doesn’t know why he is still standing with her, and she will never ask for fear of the answer.
3. Memory
He does not expect her memory to haunt him as it does after he has made his grand exit, but in the months following she is never far from his thoughts.
4. Box
There is a parable about a woman who opened a forbidden box and in doing so destroyed all she held dear; she is afraid she will prove the lesson true, but she cannot seem to stay away from him.
5. Run
His partner’s face is unreadable as she tells him - The viera have a saying: though you may run from your destiny for a time, it is best to turn and face it before it takes you by surprise - and he is silent for a few moments, considering her words, before he takes out a pen and begins to write.
6. Hurricane
When she receives the letter, the flood of emotion batters her like a high wind, and it is an effort to school her face to tranquility.
7. Wings
A pirate without the sky is a bird bereft of its wings, he tells her; there is a bittersweet ache in her heart as she acknowledges that she will likely never be able to offer enough for him to stay.
8. Cold
The wind in the Paramina Rift is merciless, sneaking below clothing and chilling to the bone; when he lays his bedroll out next to hers and slings an arm over her waist, she feigns sleep and lets him warm her.
9. Red
He is habitually fastidious about his appearance, yet he binds up her arm without hesitation, never noticing that her blood is staining his immaculate lace cuffs.
10. Drink
She does not hold her drink well, and thus refuses the flask when it is passed around, even on the coldest of nights - watching him laughing across the campfire, she fears what she might do if her inhibitions were compromised.
11. Midnight
He always takes the midnight watch, because it affords him a few moments in her company while everyone else is sleeping; they both know she lingers longer than strictly necessary before seeking her bedroll, but they never mention it in the daylight hours.
12. Temptation
The feelings he wakes in her are wholly inappropriate and forbidden; never in the two years she has spent struggling to reclaim her kingdom has she been so sorely tempted to leave it all behind.
13. View
When they travel by chocobo, he graciously lets her take point, then sits back and enjoys the view.
14. Music
As the trumpets and drums swell in fanfare, she ascends the pedestal, feeling his eyes on her back although he has chosen to stand at the furthest end of the room; this choice is deliberate, she knows, and she cannot help feeling the distance between them, putting a veneer of sadness over what was supposed to be her moment of triumph.
15. Silk
A fortuitous culmination of events leads him to discover that she indulges in the small luxury of silk under layers of practical clothing and armor; although she never mentions it, the bright flush of color in her cheeks whenever he looks at her after that speaks volumes.
16. Cover
Although he has always been adept at covering his tracks, he admits ruefully to himself that their liaison may be the worst-kept secret in the palace when he runs across one of her maids at the Sandsea and the woman curtsies until her torso is nearly level to the floor.
17. Promise
He has promised her nothing, and he thinks himself fortunate that she has never asked - he fears that if she did, he might give her everything.
18. Dream
She dreams about it for months after the fact, tossing fitfully in her sleep; it is only after the letter comes that the nightmares release her.
19. Candle
She looks somehow softer in the candlelight, like a young girl with the best years of her life ahead of her; it is somewhat sobering to realize that this is what she would have been, had she not been forced to grow hard long before her time.
20. Talent
Do you practice being infuriating, I wonder, or is it an innate talent? she snaps peevishly; he only smiles until she stalks off to collect herself.
21. Silence
They come together in silence, always aware of the need for secrecy as they share furtive caresses and hold back whispered endearments - she sometimes feels like a thief in the night, stealing these moments in defiance of all they can never be.
22. Journey
She never thinks that she might not want the journey to end until she steps out onto her balcony and realizes she is alone.
23. Fire
He has always been drawn to trouble, so he supposes he should not be surprised that she draws him, too; the old adage about playing with fire aside, he comforts himself with the knowledge that at the very least he is unlikely ever to be bored.
24. Strength
The strength of her conviction is matched only by that of her sword arm; it surprises and intrigues him to discover the fragility she has hidden away underneath.
25. Mask
Although she desperately tries to appear capable and aloof, she fears he can see straight through her to the doubts buried in her heart.
26. Ice
The way she glares at him would turn a lesser man’s blood to ice in his veins; he thinks it is fortunate that he is not a lesser man.
27. Fall
She can think of at least a hundred reasons why falling in love with him would be a terrible mistake; unfortunately, not one of them seems to make a bit of difference to how she feels.
28. Forgotten
She pales when she realizes she only vaguely recalls Rasler’s voice; he is walking next to her, oblivious, and she burns with shame, knowing he is the reason she has let herself forget.
29. Dance
They have danced around each other for months, cloaking their intent in barbed comments and innuendo, but he knows that she recognizes where they are headed as well as he does; the question, of course, is what they intend to do when they get there.
30. Body
The first time she is seriously injured, she discovers firsthand that despite his foppish appearance, he is unexpectedly strong; he carries her determinedly out of harm’s way in spite of her every attempt to break free of his hold.
31. Sacred
Is nothing sacred? she demands as he efficiently fills his saddlebags with an ancient king’s treasure; he only laughs and tells her, A pirate needs to eat, as does a princess.
32. Farewells
They miss their chance to say their farewells; she does not allow herself to think about him going until he is already gone.
33. World
After it is over, he can’t escape the thought that a real leading man would have saved the world and gotten the girl in the bargain; although he hides his annoyance well, he thinks Fran must know what is on his mind - the inscrutable looks she gives him speak louder than words.
34. Formal
When he wants to annoy her, he greets her with a bow courtly enough to belong in the halls of a royal palace; her huffy reaction never ceases to amuse him.
35. Fever
He escapes out the window literally moments before her maid opens the door, and she must be scarlet, for the woman begins fussing over her immediately and bustles her back into bed to recover; it is very difficult to keep from laughing.
36. Laugh
No one is more surprised than he when she begins to laugh; the sound is incongruously young and unexpectedly beautiful, and it is the first time he thinks he might grow to like her, after all.
37. Lies
How am I to believe anything told me by a man who indulges in piracy? she asks; he gives her a long look devoid of mockery and replies: I suppose you will simply have to trust me.
38. Forever
Forever is a terribly long time, Highness, he tells her, but we are here now; she allows herself to be drawn into his arms and lets it be enough.
39. Overwhelmed
It is when she feels she simply cannot take it any longer that she seeks him out, and he obligingly takes her away from everything she has fought so hard to claim; although she cannot stay away long, she cherishes these stolen moments of freedom - and him, for offering them to her.
40. Whisper
With a whisper of silk against skin, she lets her dressing gown fall to the floor along with her reservations; through the blood pounding in her ears, she hears him catch his breath before he reaches out to take what she has offered.
41. Wait
She knows that she has responsibilities and duties and that she cannot afford to wait for him forever; still, somehow she finds reason to wait just one day more.
42. Talk
It is an unspoken agreement between them that they will not discuss the future; without words, he teaches her to live in the moment despite her initial misgivings.
43. Search
She is far too proud to search for him, but she knows he must be alive somewhere because she can’t bear to consider the alternative.
44. Hope
He has a brief and fleeting hope that she might try to find him, and tries to smother his disappointment when she does not reach out first.
45. Eclipse
I do not know if we will truly be able to do this, she admits to him, the night before the end, and he tells her, I’ve no doubt the threat we face will be eclipsed by your determination; I have yet to see anything stand against its power.
46. Gravity
The power keeping her grounded is greater than anything he can offer her; as the Strahl rises into the clouds, leaving her behind, the joy of flight is tempered by the fact that he knows she can never truly share it.
47. Highway
The journey is in his blood, as the sky is; as she watches his ship disappear on the horizon, tracing the trade route to Bhujerba, she wishes for one moment of weakness that she could fly away with him.
48. Unknown
The greatest reward, he tells her one night over the watch fire, comes with the greatest risk; if you are not willing to face the unknown, how will you ever keep history from repeating itself?
49. Lock
She thought she had locked her heart away somewhere safe and secret; it is unfortunate for her that he is a pirate and a thief - he has found it and stolen the key.
50. Breathe
His chest rises and falls in the steady rhythm of sleep; she closes her eyes and attempts to preserve the moment in her memory, knowing that it may well be the last they share.
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Pairing: Balthier/Ashe
Theme set: Gamma
Title: A Thief in the Night
Rating: PG-13
Warning[s]: A couple of suggestive themes, but nothing over the top, I think.
Notes: I am putting the prompts, in order, under the cut. However, for my personal archive, I took the prompts out of order so as to create a chronological progression; I would recommend that you read them this way here, because I feel like the original order detracts from the flow.
***
1. Ring
He takes the ring to annoy her, to motivate her, and to free her; he doesn’t think it likely that she will ever see past the first impulse, because she seems unwilling to recognize he may have unselfish motives.
2. Hero
None of them were ever meant to be heroes, but she has accustomed herself to the role as well as she can out of necessity; she doesn’t know why he is still standing with her, and she will never ask for fear of the answer.
3. Memory
He does not expect her memory to haunt him as it does after he has made his grand exit, but in the months following she is never far from his thoughts.
4. Box
There is a parable about a woman who opened a forbidden box and in doing so destroyed all she held dear; she is afraid she will prove the lesson true, but she cannot seem to stay away from him.
5. Run
His partner’s face is unreadable as she tells him - The viera have a saying: though you may run from your destiny for a time, it is best to turn and face it before it takes you by surprise - and he is silent for a few moments, considering her words, before he takes out a pen and begins to write.
6. Hurricane
When she receives the letter, the flood of emotion batters her like a high wind, and it is an effort to school her face to tranquility.
7. Wings
A pirate without the sky is a bird bereft of its wings, he tells her; there is a bittersweet ache in her heart as she acknowledges that she will likely never be able to offer enough for him to stay.
8. Cold
The wind in the Paramina Rift is merciless, sneaking below clothing and chilling to the bone; when he lays his bedroll out next to hers and slings an arm over her waist, she feigns sleep and lets him warm her.
9. Red
He is habitually fastidious about his appearance, yet he binds up her arm without hesitation, never noticing that her blood is staining his immaculate lace cuffs.
10. Drink
She does not hold her drink well, and thus refuses the flask when it is passed around, even on the coldest of nights - watching him laughing across the campfire, she fears what she might do if her inhibitions were compromised.
11. Midnight
He always takes the midnight watch, because it affords him a few moments in her company while everyone else is sleeping; they both know she lingers longer than strictly necessary before seeking her bedroll, but they never mention it in the daylight hours.
12. Temptation
The feelings he wakes in her are wholly inappropriate and forbidden; never in the two years she has spent struggling to reclaim her kingdom has she been so sorely tempted to leave it all behind.
13. View
When they travel by chocobo, he graciously lets her take point, then sits back and enjoys the view.
14. Music
As the trumpets and drums swell in fanfare, she ascends the pedestal, feeling his eyes on her back although he has chosen to stand at the furthest end of the room; this choice is deliberate, she knows, and she cannot help feeling the distance between them, putting a veneer of sadness over what was supposed to be her moment of triumph.
15. Silk
A fortuitous culmination of events leads him to discover that she indulges in the small luxury of silk under layers of practical clothing and armor; although she never mentions it, the bright flush of color in her cheeks whenever he looks at her after that speaks volumes.
16. Cover
Although he has always been adept at covering his tracks, he admits ruefully to himself that their liaison may be the worst-kept secret in the palace when he runs across one of her maids at the Sandsea and the woman curtsies until her torso is nearly level to the floor.
17. Promise
He has promised her nothing, and he thinks himself fortunate that she has never asked - he fears that if she did, he might give her everything.
18. Dream
She dreams about it for months after the fact, tossing fitfully in her sleep; it is only after the letter comes that the nightmares release her.
19. Candle
She looks somehow softer in the candlelight, like a young girl with the best years of her life ahead of her; it is somewhat sobering to realize that this is what she would have been, had she not been forced to grow hard long before her time.
20. Talent
Do you practice being infuriating, I wonder, or is it an innate talent? she snaps peevishly; he only smiles until she stalks off to collect herself.
21. Silence
They come together in silence, always aware of the need for secrecy as they share furtive caresses and hold back whispered endearments - she sometimes feels like a thief in the night, stealing these moments in defiance of all they can never be.
22. Journey
She never thinks that she might not want the journey to end until she steps out onto her balcony and realizes she is alone.
23. Fire
He has always been drawn to trouble, so he supposes he should not be surprised that she draws him, too; the old adage about playing with fire aside, he comforts himself with the knowledge that at the very least he is unlikely ever to be bored.
24. Strength
The strength of her conviction is matched only by that of her sword arm; it surprises and intrigues him to discover the fragility she has hidden away underneath.
25. Mask
Although she desperately tries to appear capable and aloof, she fears he can see straight through her to the doubts buried in her heart.
26. Ice
The way she glares at him would turn a lesser man’s blood to ice in his veins; he thinks it is fortunate that he is not a lesser man.
27. Fall
She can think of at least a hundred reasons why falling in love with him would be a terrible mistake; unfortunately, not one of them seems to make a bit of difference to how she feels.
28. Forgotten
She pales when she realizes she only vaguely recalls Rasler’s voice; he is walking next to her, oblivious, and she burns with shame, knowing he is the reason she has let herself forget.
29. Dance
They have danced around each other for months, cloaking their intent in barbed comments and innuendo, but he knows that she recognizes where they are headed as well as he does; the question, of course, is what they intend to do when they get there.
30. Body
The first time she is seriously injured, she discovers firsthand that despite his foppish appearance, he is unexpectedly strong; he carries her determinedly out of harm’s way in spite of her every attempt to break free of his hold.
31. Sacred
Is nothing sacred? she demands as he efficiently fills his saddlebags with an ancient king’s treasure; he only laughs and tells her, A pirate needs to eat, as does a princess.
32. Farewells
They miss their chance to say their farewells; she does not allow herself to think about him going until he is already gone.
33. World
After it is over, he can’t escape the thought that a real leading man would have saved the world and gotten the girl in the bargain; although he hides his annoyance well, he thinks Fran must know what is on his mind - the inscrutable looks she gives him speak louder than words.
34. Formal
When he wants to annoy her, he greets her with a bow courtly enough to belong in the halls of a royal palace; her huffy reaction never ceases to amuse him.
35. Fever
He escapes out the window literally moments before her maid opens the door, and she must be scarlet, for the woman begins fussing over her immediately and bustles her back into bed to recover; it is very difficult to keep from laughing.
36. Laugh
No one is more surprised than he when she begins to laugh; the sound is incongruously young and unexpectedly beautiful, and it is the first time he thinks he might grow to like her, after all.
37. Lies
How am I to believe anything told me by a man who indulges in piracy? she asks; he gives her a long look devoid of mockery and replies: I suppose you will simply have to trust me.
38. Forever
Forever is a terribly long time, Highness, he tells her, but we are here now; she allows herself to be drawn into his arms and lets it be enough.
39. Overwhelmed
It is when she feels she simply cannot take it any longer that she seeks him out, and he obligingly takes her away from everything she has fought so hard to claim; although she cannot stay away long, she cherishes these stolen moments of freedom - and him, for offering them to her.
40. Whisper
With a whisper of silk against skin, she lets her dressing gown fall to the floor along with her reservations; through the blood pounding in her ears, she hears him catch his breath before he reaches out to take what she has offered.
41. Wait
She knows that she has responsibilities and duties and that she cannot afford to wait for him forever; still, somehow she finds reason to wait just one day more.
42. Talk
It is an unspoken agreement between them that they will not discuss the future; without words, he teaches her to live in the moment despite her initial misgivings.
43. Search
She is far too proud to search for him, but she knows he must be alive somewhere because she can’t bear to consider the alternative.
44. Hope
He has a brief and fleeting hope that she might try to find him, and tries to smother his disappointment when she does not reach out first.
45. Eclipse
I do not know if we will truly be able to do this, she admits to him, the night before the end, and he tells her, I’ve no doubt the threat we face will be eclipsed by your determination; I have yet to see anything stand against its power.
46. Gravity
The power keeping her grounded is greater than anything he can offer her; as the Strahl rises into the clouds, leaving her behind, the joy of flight is tempered by the fact that he knows she can never truly share it.
47. Highway
The journey is in his blood, as the sky is; as she watches his ship disappear on the horizon, tracing the trade route to Bhujerba, she wishes for one moment of weakness that she could fly away with him.
48. Unknown
The greatest reward, he tells her one night over the watch fire, comes with the greatest risk; if you are not willing to face the unknown, how will you ever keep history from repeating itself?
49. Lock
She thought she had locked her heart away somewhere safe and secret; it is unfortunate for her that he is a pirate and a thief - he has found it and stolen the key.
50. Breathe
His chest rises and falls in the steady rhythm of sleep; she closes her eyes and attempts to preserve the moment in her memory, knowing that it may well be the last they share.