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[portolan]

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[portolan]

Sometimes that's all we can hope for.

[ He's been a pirate -- a wanted one -- long enough to know that. ]

[deadlighter]

yeah.

life's life.

boring though, mine. comparatively.

any other stories?

hello~

[portolan]

seems like they all end up that way
having stabbed anyone with a drawing utensil yet, though

[portolan]

I'm happy for mine to be boring at the moment.
Stories I have in spades.
Once I snuck into a chocobo race to avoid being captured by an assailant. Won second place and ended up doing three more races.

[deadlighter]

boring's good.

means no one's getting shot.

ever get first?

[grindset]

"yet" will never become an occasion for my work if i have anything to say about it
more people could use purely creative pastimes
and it would not hurt to be less secretive about them

[portolan]

The last race
Threw off a betting con I didn't know about
Chased out of town, nearly killed
That was the end of that.

[portolan]

Scientist, then?
Better man than the last one I knew.
He certainly needed purely creative past times.

[deadlighter]

like something out of a story.

（ very fantastical. a little bit of swashbuckling. she finds herself being wistful — not for the near-death experience, but for the whimsy of the world he paints with his words. she's hungry for anything that's not blood and death and war in a metal box you live in and perish on. ）

we used to race marbles. down hallways.

got pretty good.

[grindset]

when your work brings profit to the powerful it can be easy to lose your way
you must resist persuasive arguments, both external and internal -
but then, some people simply don't care who they hurt in the name of progress.

it is good you have an expressive outlet.

[tobesomeone]

[Are the lines terrible if they come from Balthier first?]

I won't disagree.

[Being plundered by such an infamous sky pirate? Why he's honored. None of this is suffering, bring on the corny lines, he lives for them. He is a dealer of terrible one liners, let's go.

And he loves that Balthier wants to claim him as much as he wants to with him. He's got a bit of a possessive streak that jumps out when he likes someone. Loves them. It tends to show up in marks left on Balthier's skin, in places that his fancy little pirate clothes barely cover. Other's might not see them, but he knows they're there, Balthier knows they're there. He just likes leaving a piece of him with him. Maybe a piece of jewelry would be better. He'll have to look into that at some point.

Balthier is good on his word, tongue plundering him and teasing his so with his bottom lip at his mercy. He'll eagerly tilt his head up into it, happy to be plundered, not that he just sits there and takes it. His hands smooth down Balthier's back, nails lightly dragging against warm skin, leaving light pink lines that will fade sooner than later.]

[portolan]

any of us lose our way the closer we get to the thing that tempts us
you have fortitude, I think, and a moral compass that will not be stifled
those are rare treasures

my mother taught me to draw. not to make things, but to meditate, to observe, to keep a record of things not well held by words. I am thankful for it.

[portolan]

[ Yes, well, he tends to leave out the heavy parts. The human parts. Unless he's close to someone. Legends and humanity don't go together.

But he can't say he doesn't have fun when he can find it. ]

I did that as a boy. I was terrible at it. Any tips?

[grindset]

i know someone with a similar habit
do you keep a journal?

as to the rest - i am simply doing the best i can.
most people are.

[portolan]

I do -- sketches and words. It's soothing.
You? Or some other centering hobby?

I think you overestimate others.

[grindset]

too busy for pastimes
if i am doing something else i am probably thinking about work -
so i work.
that is where i am most myself.

[portolan]

[ Balthier adores the way Reyes marks him. He loves even more the way Reyes's fingers trail over those marks later, his soft gaze finding them over and over again when they are alone. Balthier returns the favor more often than not, though with Reyes's darker complexion they're generally subtle. Not so on Balthier; he has little hope of hiding the ones Reyes puts outside the bounds of his conservative neckline. Not that he makes any effort to conceal them. Adds to his mystique and, combined with how possessive Reyes is when they're out together -- hand on his ass, kisses down his neck, arm around his waist -- well, Balthier doesn't mind being publicly unavailable. Quite enjoys being so openly claimed, really.

Marks fade, though. He likes Reyes having something more permanent from him. Not that he can't have both. Which he will, if Balthier has anything to do with it. But right now he's busy with that glorious mouth, kisses getting wetter as he makes good on plundering Reyes with his tongue.

Reyes's nails curl across his back, producing a pleased groan. That earns a gentle lip bite before Balthier breaks to mouth against his jaw, one hand coming up to tangle in his hair and pull his head to the angle he wants. And Reyes's earlobe is right there, so of course he has to bite that too. ]

[portolan]

yes, well, be careful it doesn't consume you entirely
no good comes of that

[grindset]

"careful" is a tiresome word

[portolan]

[ He's been doing a good job keeping his past out of this, but something about that one gets under his skin. ]

My father put his work before everything
Brought down a city in the name of advancement
He thought careful was tiresome too

[grindset]

[Ah.]

prioritizing one's own ambitions over the lives of others is an unspeakably ugly thing - especially when those same people could just as easily be helped instead of harmed.
i'm sincerely sorry he did that.

[portolan]

[ A better reaction than he expected ]

Unspeakably ugly to say the least.

Thank you for saying that.

[grindset]

certainly.
i hope i didn't upset you - that was not my intent.

[portolan]

I'd be a fool if I took offense to conversational friction
You seem a man who operates on principals; I respect that

[grindset]

[It's more the memory than the conversation itself, he thinks, but... better to let that pass.]

yes, well
as a scientist i have no choice but to operate on principles
:)