FFxivWrite2021

[svirdilu]

Total written: 3 (2 unscreened) prompts, 2071 words

Am I doing this super late? Oh definitely. Am I gonna try to get through a good chunk of prompts on my own time anyway? Hell yea
Prompt #4: Baleful
Prompt #5: (You pick!)
Prompt #6: Avatar
Prompt #7: Speculate
Prompt #8: Adroit
Prompt #9: Friable
Prompt #10: Heady
Prompt #11: Preaching to the Choir
Prompt #12: (you pick!)
Prompt #13: Oneirophrenia
Prompt #14: Commend
Prompt #15: Thunderous
Prompt #16: Crane
Prompt #17: Destruct
Prompt #18: Devil’s Advocate
Prompt #19: (you pick!)
Prompt #20: Petrichor
Prompt #21: Feckless
Prompt #22: Fluster
Prompt #23: Soul
Prompt #24: Illustrious
Prompt #25: Silver Lining
Prompt #26: (you pick!)
Prompt #27: Benthos
Prompt #28: Bow
Prompt #29: Debonair
Prompt #30: Abstracted

Comments

1 - Foster (Raised-in-Garlemald AU)

[lightparty]

"Little Tiberia will miss you," Decimus says, reaching out to adjust Venatus' lapels again. For the who-knows-what time today.

Ven bears it with his usual half-smile, brushing off his father's hands after a few seconds. It's nothing his father hasn't said before, either: translation, 'I'll miss you too.' But Ven's always got the feeling Decimus is torn between worry for him... and relief that Ven's following the most traditional route for a proper Garlean citizen - military service, contributing back to the empire. It makes things... easier. Nobody can complain about a Senator adopting someone from one of the less civilized races, giving them a free ride to citizenship, if Ven pays back what he would've normally had to use to earn it.

(That's a lie. Ven grew up in the capital, and he's not blind, for all that he wears a blindfold to protect his sensitive eyes. People can and will complain. But it helps, and Ven's mother needs all the help she can get - the Populares swing in and out of influence.)

"I'll write - often," he promises. "Tiberia's doing well learning her letters - maybe she'll be able to read what I send by herself soon."

Decimus nods, his expression no more reassured than before. He opens his mouth again just as a brisk knock sounds on the door.

"Architectus Venatus!" a voice calls out.

Decimus and Ven both start - Decimus scrambles to pass over Ven's new hat, then opens his arms for a hug. A deep corner of Ven's mind resignedly notes that it's in that order, because of course it is. But that doesn't keep him from pulling the hat tightly over his ears and hugging back - and for all that, his father's hug is warm and genuine.

(The hat, and keeping his tail under his coat, has never made that much of a difference - it's still obvious he's not natively Garlean. But it's better not to, you know, rub it in, when people are trying to decide whether to wrinkle their noses.)

(It's going to be better in the VIth, Venatus tells himself. The Legions are full of conscripts from outside Garlemald proper. It'll be better. And everyone knows Regula's something like Ven - you know, aside from being Garlean, high-ranking, unquestionable. A younger Ven, less jaded, had looked up to Regula very much. So that can't hurt.)

Ven pulls away from Decimus and strides to the door, slinging his supply pack to his back as he goes. He opens it just before the legionary knocks again, following it up with a salute. The legionary does a small double take, clearly not expecting a Miqo'te with that name, particularly in the streets of the capital - but something anxious in Ven's chest unclenches slightly when there's no more reaction other than that.

"Venatus bas - Venatus jen Iaculus," he confirms, just in case. As if the coat doesn't already show he's a new member of the VIth.

Ven looks back only one more time as the legionary leads him away. The square of light from the open door outlines his father still standing there, staring after him through the thin drizzle of snow, though Decimus definitely isn't dressed for the weather. The man raises a hand in farewell, and Ven does the same before turning away.

The door doesn't shut until long after Ven's around the corner and out of sight.

A/Ns:
Backstory: Vehn is born a year or two earlier, while mom is passing through the Garlean Empire instead of the Steppe. She can't support another kid right then, gives Vehn up to a Garlean orphanage. Tiberia nabs the kid when she's traveling inspecting the provinces - she is a bit younger and more impulsive then, although still quite well respected by that point.
(They renamed him Venata/us because it's a good proper Garlean name that would have people react better to him, but Vehn/Ven could still be used as a nickname without drawing comment.)
The similarity to Regula thing is I'm saying they're both some form of trans. Listen let me have this

Tiberia fae Callidus -> Senator. Very busy woman, not often home. Politics-wise she's supportive or part of the Populares, which is why Venatus was adopted at all (vs an orphaned Garlean)
Decimus dus Iaculus -> Notarius (scrivener) for sure. He's the one most concerned about appearances and looking like a proper Garlean and etc - which isn't to say he's not fond of Venatus, buuut he's very very conscious that a Miqo'te isn't a common sight in the capital, to put it euphemistically. Venatus needs to do 10x as well as a native Garlean to get anywhere but also not stand out TOO much. Venatus can't be seen to do anything improper ever or it'll reflect badly on mom.
Tiberia bas Iaculus -> Younger sister, biologically Tiberia and Decimus's, about ten years younger than Ven. Since she was born Ven's had the nagging voice in the back of his head that she's more important than him to the family, bcs as a Miqo'te he's never going to be able to amount to much in the Empire no matter how hard he tries, and that he's expected to basically toss his life into supporting her. He loves her a lot for sure, but he does have fits of resentment.