A peace offering. He does his best not to chuckle at her, instead taking some of the fried dough and starting to walk with her.
"Celia and I were lovers a grand total of, hmm, three weeks? It was a terrible fit." He's watching her face carefully, still trying to figure out which part of all this has set her off. "That was, gods, a decade ago. But even if she were my lover, I promise we don't just jump each other on tables in broad daylight, whatever your governess said about us." Surely it's that?
Busying herself with another piece of fried dough, Aerith's grateful for the task of chewing, aware it's keeping her expression neutral while he briefly touches on his past with the woman from the tavern. It makes sense, Celia seemed very beautiful and worldly - two things Aerith had felt anything but in that moment.
"The longer I'm away from home the more I realize she told me anything she could to keep me from trying to leave," she answers, laughing humorlessly.
Ah, the discomfort of realizing how small your world is, that's something he remembers.
"She did her job then. I imagine they persecute governesses who teach their charges to run away."
He takes another bite of bread, hazy memories hugging the back of his thoughts. "It was a lot, when I first left. It was frustrating being wrong all the time. If I seem amused, it's as much at myself as it is you." By his calculations, that had to be what was bothering her.
"Almost nothing is what she said it would be like," Aerith pauses, considering.
"Well." The corners of her lips twitch amusedly as she spares him a sideways glance, rolling her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "There are rogues afoot, certainly," Aerith adds playfully.
It's good to see her smiling again, even if it's good for her to feel the sting of how wrong she is. If she does go back, she'll be a better leader for it.
The thought makes him oddly sad. Maybe because he still thinks she shouldn't go back.
"They didn't let you out much, did they?" he asks, a bit of pity slipping into his voice. There was such a huge world to see, and most people, even the free ones, didn't even notice it.
His feet know the way, and it's not long before he sees the edges of the building peaking over the rest. Not time to draw her attention to it, though; better to see the entrance.
"For things like state affairs, balls, to sit at the women's table during meetings with other kingdoms. I never got to go anywhere like this." She could recall more than a few instances where their convoy had stopped for one reason or another in a city or town, but even then she hadn't been allowed to do much more than look out the window.
Perking up when a high-roofed building begins to come into view, she looks to Balthier, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Where are you taking me?"
"When I was a boy, my mother took me out in the city often, sometimes the outlying towns," he says thoughtfully. "It wasn't until my father cobbled up titles that I got too pinned down."
They turn again, and the building comes into view. "The old conservatory, for plants from foreign regions. There aren't many left these days, but the one at home was my favorite place to go as a boy. This one's grander." It's like a palace, but one only full of plants.
"I wish my mother was like that," Aerith sounds earnest as she glances around her again, appreciating her surroundings for how different they were from everything she'd known before being taken aboard his ship.
Balthier's description of their destination is surprising and utterly fascinating. Tending flowers was a ladylike enough activity that she had gotten away with it back home, especially after her magic tutor advised her parents that it would help with her healing magic, thus making her a better match for a warlike kingdom if the opportunity arose, but she never got to learn about her plants beyond that.
"A conservatory, for plants? That sounds wonderful!" And she started walking a little faster, unable to help herself.
"My mother was a commoner," Balthier says with a sly smile, not missing the way Aerith is taking everything in, clearly delighted even if she gets overwhelmed.
"Old technology, left over some past empire. Amazing it still works. They used more medicinal and magical plants than we do." Now she's the one tugging him along, and he does his best not to laugh.
These days, it's just a tired tourist attraction, a little run down, with some local groups still using its magical climate control where it can be patched. It's easy to duck in, drop a few coins in the fee station, and then be transported to another world.
"That's wonderful, you must have learned so much from her," versus the education Aerith had received from her own mother, which mostly consisted of sitting up straight and being quiet.
As secretly pleased as she is to be walking arm in arm with Balthier, Aerith gets too caught up in her surroundings and is quick to wander over to an arching trellis where bell-shaped flowers and rotund fruits hung from above, gawking at them.
Without taking her eyes off the flora above Aerith smiles at the question and shrugs coyly. "Well, I guess so–" Lowering her head she looks around them, glancing at some of the few tourists lingering about the plants before quickly adding, "darling."
This time he laughs freely. “I look forward to seeing people misread and underestimate you.” It’s his turn to drape an arm around her shoulders and add, “dear.”
Aerith doesn't say so, but part of her hopes Balthier isn't among those people. His opinion has begun to matter more and more the longer she stays on as part of his crew. She's sure it's all because she wants to do a good job, but she still leans into him without thinking after his arm goes around her.
"What a flatterer," her bright eyes dart sideways, glancing briefly at another visitor who had lingered curiously close by. "It's why I married him," she informs them cheerfully and looks back at Balthier. "You're going to have to show me your favorite place at every place we make port now."
“Is that so?” he grins at her, and surely his smugness is just how well she’s come around since earlier that day. “You would marry to have built in flattery, hmm?” He doesn’t notice the way he shifts as she leans into him, arm around her feeling easy and comfortable.
And he tugs her to him when she gives her order, laughing again. “Have I created a monster?” In truth he’s delighted she wants to see more. He doesn’t mind being tour guide.
He's the first person to touch her like this and treat her so familiarly, rather than the etiquette steeped rigidity back home. She knows she probably isn't the first person to warm up to Balthier while he pulls her closer like this, but, much like those little smiles he cast in her direction the night they shared wine, it makes her heart flutter just a touch.
"Won't it be good? Being seen out at nice places together?" She doesn't have any clue whether or not they'll need to keep this cover up after leaving this particular city, but, just in case...
"Such a noble," he teases, close to her ear so only she can hear. "More worried about being seen than what you get to see. This way." He tugs her away from the main walk, lifting some overgrown vines to reveal a door. They slip inside. It's hotter, more humid, a small, tall room for tropical plants. And private. It's only here he releases her from his arm.
"But yes, it will be good for our ruse, which I think will keep suspicion off you. Should keep suitors off you, too. No vagabonds in seedy taverns for you." He grins at her, watching her eyes take in the foreign plants and gorgeous architecture.
She doesn't know what to make of being pulled off into a small, cozily warm room alone with him, but her heartbeat picks up in pace as the door swings shut. Stuck between relief and disappointment when he lets her go, Aerith is grateful for the new, wonderful plants to admire, turning towards a display of red, fragrant orchids as she listens to him.
The talk of suitors gets her raising her eyebrows, and without looking at him - she can hear the smile in his voice and some part of her warns against staring directly at it when she's already feeling a little silly - Aerith shakes her head. "No suitors, agreed. I'm not a princess anymore."
It hasn't even occurred to him she may read this some other way, not with how convinced he is that she finds the idea of being with him repulsive. So it's good to see her wide-eyed and smiling, floating to the plants like they're magnets pulling her to them.
"No, you aren't," he agrees. He hadn't believed that before, not until that day with the wine, and even then -- something had changed that day, but it was only recently that when he looked at her, he saw a woman with a life to live, a pirate, and not a lost princess playing adventure.
"I was worried you wouldn't realize that. They'll give up on you in another few months, arrange some other marriage, and then you'll really be free."
She does look at him when he agrees with her, gratified. It's dizzying to think about leaving behind everything to learn a new way of life, and her ignorance of how the world works makes her feel silly, more often than not, but hearing him reinforce that she still wasn't a princess anymore made her feel good, steadied.
Is she still concerned about that? Well, he remembers what it was to have no place in the world, and fear the new stability he'd found would disappear just as thoroughly.
He comes to stand beside her, catching her gaze even as he runs his fingers over the leaves of the orchids. They're a bit like her, wild and bright. "You have a place on my crew so long as you want it. I've never met a healer half as good as you."
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"Celia and I were lovers a grand total of, hmm, three weeks? It was a terrible fit." He's watching her face carefully, still trying to figure out which part of all this has set her off. "That was, gods, a decade ago. But even if she were my lover, I promise we don't just jump each other on tables in broad daylight, whatever your governess said about us." Surely it's that?
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"The longer I'm away from home the more I realize she told me anything she could to keep me from trying to leave," she answers, laughing humorlessly.
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"She did her job then. I imagine they persecute governesses who teach their charges to run away."
He takes another bite of bread, hazy memories hugging the back of his thoughts. "It was a lot, when I first left. It was frustrating being wrong all the time. If I seem amused, it's as much at myself as it is you." By his calculations, that had to be what was bothering her.
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"Well." The corners of her lips twitch amusedly as she spares him a sideways glance, rolling her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "There are rogues afoot, certainly," Aerith adds playfully.
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It's good to see her smiling again, even if it's good for her to feel the sting of how wrong she is. If she does go back, she'll be a better leader for it.
The thought makes him oddly sad. Maybe because he still thinks she shouldn't go back.
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"Take me to your favorite place in this city, it's something I should know, right?"
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"Hmm, favorite place --" It's a good query. There are restaurants he likes, a few good public squares, a nice view of the skyline.
No, he knows where he's going to take her. He changes their direction, heading toward a different sector. "It's a bit of a walk."
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"I don't mind, I like getting to see everything."
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His feet know the way, and it's not long before he sees the edges of the building peaking over the rest. Not time to draw her attention to it, though; better to see the entrance.
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Perking up when a high-roofed building begins to come into view, she looks to Balthier, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Where are you taking me?"
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They turn again, and the building comes into view. "The old conservatory, for plants from foreign regions. There aren't many left these days, but the one at home was my favorite place to go as a boy. This one's grander." It's like a palace, but one only full of plants.
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Balthier's description of their destination is surprising and utterly fascinating. Tending flowers was a ladylike enough activity that she had gotten away with it back home, especially after her magic tutor advised her parents that it would help with her healing magic, thus making her a better match for a warlike kingdom if the opportunity arose, but she never got to learn about her plants beyond that.
"A conservatory, for plants? That sounds wonderful!" And she started walking a little faster, unable to help herself.
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"Old technology, left over some past empire. Amazing it still works. They used more medicinal and magical plants than we do." Now she's the one tugging him along, and he does his best not to laugh.
These days, it's just a tired tourist attraction, a little run down, with some local groups still using its magical climate control where it can be patched. It's easy to duck in, drop a few coins in the fee station, and then be transported to another world.
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As secretly pleased as she is to be walking arm in arm with Balthier, Aerith gets too caught up in her surroundings and is quick to wander over to an arching trellis where bell-shaped flowers and rotund fruits hung from above, gawking at them.
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But he's grinning at Aerith's enthusiasm. "Am I forgiven for not properly fending off old lovers?"
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"What a flatterer," her bright eyes dart sideways, glancing briefly at another visitor who had lingered curiously close by. "It's why I married him," she informs them cheerfully and looks back at Balthier. "You're going to have to show me your favorite place at every place we make port now."
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And he tugs her to him when she gives her order, laughing again. “Have I created a monster?” In truth he’s delighted she wants to see more. He doesn’t mind being tour guide.
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"Won't it be good? Being seen out at nice places together?" She doesn't have any clue whether or not they'll need to keep this cover up after leaving this particular city, but, just in case...
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"But yes, it will be good for our ruse, which I think will keep suspicion off you. Should keep suitors off you, too. No vagabonds in seedy taverns for you." He grins at her, watching her eyes take in the foreign plants and gorgeous architecture.
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The talk of suitors gets her raising her eyebrows, and without looking at him - she can hear the smile in his voice and some part of her warns against staring directly at it when she's already feeling a little silly - Aerith shakes her head. "No suitors, agreed. I'm not a princess anymore."
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"No, you aren't," he agrees. He hadn't believed that before, not until that day with the wine, and even then -- something had changed that day, but it was only recently that when he looked at her, he saw a woman with a life to live, a pirate, and not a lost princess playing adventure.
"I was worried you wouldn't realize that. They'll give up on you in another few months, arrange some other marriage, and then you'll really be free."
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"And I get to stay and work for you?"
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He comes to stand beside her, catching her gaze even as he runs his fingers over the leaves of the orchids. They're a bit like her, wild and bright. "You have a place on my crew so long as you want it. I've never met a healer half as good as you."
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