When life had locked me out, I turned to you...
WHO: Penelo {danceofrapture} and Larsa Ferrinas Solidor {solidor_heir}
WHAT: A man who grew up too soon is brave enough to be a boy again
WHERE: House Bunansa
WHEN: After this
( So open the door! )
WHAT: A man who grew up too soon is brave enough to be a boy again
WHERE: House Bunansa
WHEN: After this
( So open the door! )
Comments 11
"It's different seeing you like this, sir." The tailor admitted, preening Larsa's appearance in front of the mirror.
"Just 'Larsa' now." The boy smiled broadly. "No more 'sir'."
He left the establishment with a spring in his step and a happiness in his eyes he hadn't experienced in what felt like a lifetime. In a simple paper boutique bag lay his Councilor Robes, folded respectfully and ready to be stored away. Or perhaps burned.
The thought brought a very cheeky grin to his face as he knocked on the door, knowing Penelo would be waiting for him.
Reply
Pulling open the door, Penelo bent a bit to the boy's height, putting on a sugary-sweet voice, "Hello, dear, how can I-"
A gasp stole her breath. This was her Larsa! Her Larsa! Her precious little boy, looking his age, filled with brightness and innocence, not the ache of his duty.
"Oh, Larsa!"
Her eyes filled at the corners as she swept the boy into both arms, peppering him with kisses. His hair was short again, curly and flicky at the ends. Feeling the soft curls in her fingertips refreshed her weary heart. Penelo took a step back, smoothing his lapels.
"Just look at you! This is much better..."
Reply
"Gave my tailor quite a fright when I just pointed at clothing on the rack. No more robes for him to replicate smaller. No more emblems to embroider. No more stockings." Larsa didn't realize the glaze over his eyes, the relief so evident in every cell of his body. "His daughter suggested I cut my hair so I look as ordinary as any other thirteen year old."
"We'll be alright now, won't we?" There was a hint of a plea in his question, as though he were frightened this would not last. "We can be normal again?"
Reply
She shepherded the boy inside, retrieving the dropped bag, only to put it by the door to deal with later. She removed his coat, cooing a little over his simple blouse. How could something so simple as a change of clothes effect her so much?
"Come on, now, love," Penelo hung his coat by the door and guided him with a hand to the kitchen, "What shall we make, hm?"
Larsa's little apron was tied on and his sleeves rolled up tenderly. She kissed the back of his hands, still stained a bit by ink. Soon, soon those stains would be gone- all but forgotten.
Reply
Reply
"Ahhh..." She cooed, "Just a few hours now, and then we can ice it and eat!"
Larsa's face was so charming smudged with batter, flour clinging to his hair. She beckoned with one arm, her head propped against the wide wingback of the chair.
"I missed baking so much, ever since I closed the bakery," she mused.
Penelo had been working small jobs with her former customers. A waitress. A bank teller- anything to keep money going to support her and the boy. Since Vaan went missing, she had been Larsa's sole provider. She reached out to pat the flour from his dark hair, smile fond and affectionate.
"Maybe I should use the house as a bakery? Sell my goods out of here?"
Reply
"I think you should do what you love more often, because when you're happy it makes others happy too."
Of course, Larsa had thought long and hard about his decision to resign. He had planned ahead too, for he was never one to leave things to chance. The former Councilor would now undertake the duties of a Scribe for all manner of things- births, marriages, deaths, divorces and simpler things like letters and telegrams. The work was easier and more pleasant, with the added bonus of Larsa knowing his clients quite well due to his dealings with them when he was still in the service of the Queen.
"Kisa would love that, I'm sure. Maybe you can start over, with her and Grell again? But here instead, where you'll always be in the comfort of...family."
Reply
"I want to start over, with everything." A resolution. A promise."With the bakery, with my life here."
Her eyes trailed to the raspberry-colored sky. "The Queen is gone, a new regime begins."
Her eyes studied his face. Sweet Larsa. With innocent blue eyes that were filled with an innocent heart waiting to be broken. A sweet creature who only knew to love, and only longed to be loved in return. She pressed a kiss to his brow, as if filling him with a blessing. It would be a new world. A whole new world, for the both of them. Nearby on the mantle rested articles from each of their fallen. Balthier's rings, Fran's bracelets, Travis' wristcuffs, Basch's leather bracer, Vaan's earring. All reminders of those loved and lost. All reminders of why they should carry on.
"Shall we toast it?"
Reply
He was too young for everything, really, for everything he did was meant for grown men. Groomed to rule an Empire feared and hated, yet all he strove for was peace throughout Ivalice. Larsa was forever trying to fill shoes far too big for him, with little regard for his well-being. It was as though people wished him to skip childhood and adolescence altogether.
But not Penelo, no. Penelo, along with his guardians and his beloved brother, longed for Larsa to just be Larsa. An ordinary boy with an ordinary life.
"Thank you for seeing me, Penelo." The now somewhat ordinary smiled, blue eyes twinkling. "I could not have finally done this without you."
Reply
It was nice to hear Larsa admit he was too young for something. As turbulent as her childhood had been, Penelo's parents and brothers had always taken care to ensure she had a fond childhood full of good memories to counteract the harsh realities of war and disease.
"Who else would I have seen?" Penelo perched herself on the arms of the sofa, gently pulling him to prop on her knee.
Interlocking their arms, she tapped the glass against his. "To us, and our new future."
Reply
Leave a comment