bodeful: (12)
hubert von vestra, murder goth. ([personal profile] bodeful) wrote in [community profile] finalflight2019-09-06 03:30 pm

psl; [i feel you, your rising sun]





[Hubert gazes across the ballroom in the same way he assesses the tides of war.

He thinks he prefers blood and steel as opposed to orchestrated music, tailored garb and dresses trimmed with lace. In the midst of battle, he can judge more poignantly where dangers lie — the tip of a lance glinting in the sun, a line of archers nocking their arrows in synchronicity — and adjust his own actions accordingly. Here, everything is so much more… nebulous. He hates all manner of pomp and circumstance, the noblesse oblige never completely wrung out from this societal circle; even this remains untouched by sweeping reform thus far. Everyone makes it purposefully harder to ascertain intention. Never is the case when an enemy comes rushing forth with their sword at the ready, anger flashing in their eyes. That is a straightforward problem to tackle.

Yet Hubert still plays the game, still reads the room, as it were second nature. Can spy which nobles seek the company of those who might grant them a higher rung of influence on the ever-changing, post-war social ladder. Keeps Emperor Edelgard in the scope of his vision more often than not, creeping along the fringes of the Imperial Palace’s ballroom, until she herself makes her way over, strongly suggesting that he take a moment to himself to enjoy a dance or two. (And to stop hovering like a dread shade, making several attendees sweat nervously for fear of retribution due to some unknown offense.)

And so he humors her for now — planning on detaching himself just long enough to abate her exasperation — though he doesn’t linger in near the dance floor, too brimming with faux smiles and posh sentiments of this tastes. It’s easy enough to slip outdoors to the adjacent courtyard, where some of the celebrations have begun to eke out under a stung-up lamplight in the clear night, cordoned off from the rest of the outside world by a picturesque wall of rose bushes that remind him of the cultivated flora within the confines of the monastery.

Here, he can while away the time, undoubtedly looking intimidating and unapproachable in a corner. And he would delegate himself to doing just that, as talented as he is in it, were it not for a shock of orange-red hair nearby, belonging to a man whose company he had somehow lost track of within the first hour of this mandatory celebration.

Hubert pauses for a whole half-second before he strides forward, coming up to meet him. His greeting is less of a greeting than it is an action: reaching out to untangle a long strand of his hair that has caught itself up in the stem of rose leaves, the latter growing against a tall wooden lattice just behind him.

Disapprovingly-]


You should pay closer attention to your surroundings, else you come away with thorns in your hair.
proclaiming: (013)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-06 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ For Ferdinand, the brightly lit ballroom is just as familiar as a battlefield is by now. Though he and his father never saw eye-to-eye, Ferdinand was never one to shirk his duties as the eldest son of a noble house – he embraced the role, fervently and with no amount of subtlety, in fact – which of course includes matters of socializing as much as it does war. So, while Hubert watches, skulking around the party and looming over Edelgard not unlike a vulture, Ferdinand instead makes himself useful by participating in the festivities.

He mingles, he chats, and if someone so chooses to ask him, he dances.

But even the most seasoned of nobles needs a moment to breathe, and when his most recent conversational partner takes her leave from their little stroll through the courtyard beyond the ballroom, he does not elect to return just yet. The night is cool and quiet, and the moment alone is quite welcome.

Welcome, though short-lived. If he did not know better, he would say Hubert materialized out of the shadows for as quietly as he approaches, plucking a strand of his hair away from an errant thorn, the loose ponytail he’s elected to wear for the evening doing nothing to keep it from getting snagged. Some might be unnerved by the other man’s sudden presence, but Ferdinand is used to it by now, and Hubert is a good friend, besides. ]


Ah, Hubert. Thank you. I did not realize…

[ A gloved hand reaches back to try and smooth out his rather unruly mane. He really should get it cut, but finding the time has proven difficult, and the others seem to like it, so… ]

I am surprised to see you out here. I thought you would be hovering around Edelgard like a thundercloud all night.
proclaiming: (006)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-06 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Just as there are times when Hubert is silent, a shadow slinking about the fringes to watch and plot, there are times where his presence may as well be announced by ominous music or the crack of thunder (or perhaps both). Given the overall mood and atmosphere at the party proper, it was probably a case of the latter that had Edelgard shooing him away. Something about the mental image strikes Ferdinand as amusing and he chuckles, before moving on to address Hubert’s own observation. ]

There is only so much spinning that even I can endure. [ Which is not to say he doesn’t enjoy dancing or socializing, because he does, and his demeanor is well-suited for it. ] I thought it might be nice to catch a breath of fresh air, that is all.

[ In a time not so long ago, he and Hubert were constantly at one another’s throats, their personalities and morals sitting at odds with one another. Comrades in arms, yes, but not friends. War and time change all things, however, easing them both over what Ferdinand had been certain would be an impassable barrier. This new side to their relationship, the one that has them exchanging gifts and taking tea (or coffee, as the case may be) together is perhaps the only reason Ferdinand feels at all that he is able to tease the other. ]

But if you wanted to dance, you know all you had to do was ask.
proclaiming: (011)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-09 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
And why not? I will have you know that I am a wonderful dancer.

[ The reply comes easily, no less bright in the face of Hubert's rejection - which, truth be told, feels less like a rejection since there's no real malice in it. ]

I suppose I am not terribly surprised to learn you do not care for dancing, but I think if that is the case, then perhaps you have been dancing with the wrong people.
proclaiming: (001)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-09 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There is a saying about opposites, and how they attract. Something Ferdinand never gave much thought to, personally, because he couldn’t see how he would be drawn to someone so unlike himself, until something clicked one day, and he found himself enjoying Hubert’s company rather than finding it as nails on a chalkboard. ]

Possibly, but we will not know until we try. What do you say?

[ Easy as anything, he extends his and to the other man, the look on his face softening some no less sunny for it. ]

May I have this dance?

[ The few people previously milling in the courtyard seem to have wandered back inside by now, and Ferdinand knows it would be a battle all its own to drag Hubert onto the dance floor proper. Perhaps since they’re alone, he might allow himself a bit of frivolity. ]
proclaiming: (006)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-11 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This moment could go either way. Even with them being the only two out here, Hubert could still refuse him, and Ferdinand would not be entirely surprised if he did. It is frivolous, asking the other man for a dance. They are allies, friends even, with nothing to gain from rubbing elbows and making nice at a social gathering.

But, they have given so much, lost so much, to forge this path ahead that there is a part of Ferdinand that wants this simply because he wants it, and not because it serves a purpose. He has no idea of Hubert possesses such inclinations, or if he would be given to listen to them if he did, but that is just another of the many, many differences between them. Ferdinand, the open and caring heart to Hubert’s cold and calculating logic.

Such idle thoughts fall by the wayside the instant Hubert slides his hand into Ferdinand’s own. The smile that graces his features is warm and genuine. ]


I shall do my level best.

[ He assumes, of course, that as a noble, Hubert has at least been taught to dance – thought it is perhaps a bit different now, with one of them having to follow instead of taking the lead. Considering he is the one doing the impressing this evening, Ferdinand steps up to lead their little impromptu dance, apparently taking his cue from the distant notes drifting out to the otherwise quiet courtyard, sweeping into the steps without further preamble.

Ferdinand is a lot of things, but a liar certainly isn’t one of them. He is good at it, dancing as easily as one might simply walk or breathe, long, graceful strides carrying them through the grass around the wall of roses. ]
proclaiming: (010)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-11 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Compliments from Hubert are still something he’s getting used to – like a snake singing an aria, he’d said – though this latest is far more Hubert, and not quite as strange. Backhanded, some might call it, but Ferdinand chooses to view it through the lens of what he knows of his friend, and viewed in that way, he believes it to be much more complimentary than it sounds.

He laughs, even as he guides them around the lawn. ]


And you, my friend, seem as if someone has stuffed an iron rod down the back of your jacket. Are you not enjoying yourself?
proclaiming: (014)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-12 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
That was not meant to be a compliment, merely an observation.

[ He wonders if Hubert would find it just as odd to have Ferdinand complimenting him as Ferdinand found the other way around. Perhaps not, since Ferdinand tends to be a fair bit more open and sincere about all things.

He slows their dance to a stop, not to pull away, but to simply shift their positions. ]


Here is another one, while I am at it: it seems to me you would rather lead.
proclaiming: (011)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-13 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ A challenge not unlike one he would have posed to Edelgard, once upon a time, when he all but leapt at the chance to one-up her at anything and everything, even the art of dancing. That embarrassing habit of his was ended quite effectively, but this feels different than his misguided need to prove himself superior. Like a battle between equals, perhaps, a push and pull as they try to best figure out how they fit together.

The tempo of the new song wafts in the night air, and Ferdinand has some small idea of where this might be going. He grins. ]


I am confident in my abilities, Hubert. I hope you are ready to be quite dazzled, indeed!
proclaiming: (013)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-13 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hubert does not waste a second, does he? It’s a good thing he’d already had some inclinations on what was going to happen based on the music, or else Hubert would have well and truly left him in the dust. Even with the small warning, the sudden start to the dance surprises him, not making for his best showing but his recovery is swift.

Good that it is, because Hubert sets quite the pace and Ferdinand is a little surprised to see him taking to such a thing – but then, the sharp tempo and equally sharp movements are entirely Hubert, even if the art of dancing itself is superfluous. Once Ferdinand finds his footing, not willing to fall behind the other even in this regard, a grin finds its way to his face and stays there. He’s not entirely sure when it happens, focused as he is on the steps, the way they move in tandem with Hubert at the lead, but a sweeping turn brings them too close to a rosebush, and when they move away again, the silken ribbon used to keep Ferdinand’s hair somewhat tame is left dangling on a thorny branch. The silly picture Hubert had painted earlier of him twirling about with his hair flowing behind him becomes quite real in that instant. ]


I bet that is two more dances than anyone else has managed to get from you. I shall count this as a victory, at the very least.
proclaiming: (007)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-13 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He’s used to having his hair free, often trailing after him in a fiery wave as he charges around the battlefield as well as the dancefloor. Since the thorns don’t catch in his hair itself and only tug the ribbon free, there isn’t much of a pause to give. ]

You said it yourself that you do not like dancing, yes? And here I have gotten you to do it not once, but twice. Now, if I can only get you to enjoy yourself instead of frowning at me so, then—

[ Then what? Who knows, because Ferdinand’s train of thought pretty swiftly jumps the rails when Hubert dips him of all things. Time seems to stop for a heartbeat, two heartbeats, his wide, honey-colored eyes locking onto Hubert’s – because he can see both his eyes for a change, pale and striking, with the usual shock of dark hair hanging away from his face. Color creeps onto his cheeks, unbidden, and for a treacherous second he wonders what would happen were he to lean up to meet his partner. ]

Ah. You surprised me.

[ No kidding. ]
proclaiming: (010)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-14 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ The moment passes, and whatever chance Ferdinand might have had to act on the strange feeling of anticipation and want unfolding behind his ribs is lost altogether. Hubert rights them both and moves away, the sudden distance between them feels like a chasm and Ferdinand is at a loss for a moment. Perhaps he'd been imagining it, but for a second it seemed like something had sparked between the both of them until Hubert had quite suddenly slammed the doors down.

... The more he thinks about it, the more he wonders if he did imagine it. This was Hubert after all. His devotion belonged solely to Eldelgard with room for little else. With a sigh, Ferdinand draws gloved fingers through his bangs, pushing them away from his face. ]


Yes, thank you.

[ Absently, but he seems to shake the cobwebs after a second, and moves to take the ribbon from Hubert's outstretched hand. Perhaps it's a test, the way he lets his fingers brush over his friend's as he takes it back, tucking it into a pocket for now. ]

I suppose I ought to go back inside now. No doubt there are people wondering where I am.
proclaiming: (006)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-16 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It seems a bit odd for this to end here, with an abrupt parting and even more abrupt words, but Ferdinand is at a loss on where to go from here, if anywhere. Thankfully, Hubert steps in to fill the silence first, and the invitation to their usual teatime (tea and coffee time, really) eases the unsure tension that had been gathering itself in the pit of Ferdinand’s stomach. Perhaps he’d been worried that the strange moment of magnetic pull between them had somehow altered the balance of their understanding of one another, that walls would come up again after they had finally come down.

It seems his fears were misplaced, and his smile returns, sunny as ever. ]


I would like that, yes. I shall see you tomorrow, then?

[ If he hasn’t the time, well. He’ll make it. ]
proclaiming: (014)

[personal profile] proclaiming 2019-09-17 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ferdinand had been sharing some bit of gossip from the previous night's festivities. Not that his own method's are anything at all like Hubert's, but he thought perhaps his friend might find the rumors interesting - something to log away in the great file he keeps on anyone and everyone who travels in Edelgard's circles.

So he is quite surprised when Hubert very abruptly changes the subject - to his hair of all things. Ferdinand blinks a time or two, and as if to lend credence to his friend's question, the wind whips a lock of flame-colored hair into his face. ]


Ah... sometimes, as you can see. [ Sheepish, as he tucks the wayward strand back behind his ear. ] Perhaps I ought to have tied it back again today.

Page 1 of 3