Chapter Text
Mornings at the Rising Stones tended to be relatively quiet. In the Solar you’d hear one or a couple of the Scions going through the most recent reports received from Tataru on the going ons in the realm.
In the Lunar Wing was everyone’s rooms, only really used for sleep in between trapezing around Eorzea. Most of them had a room they could reserve in one of the city state inns, but nothing beat being home.
Alphinaud had just returned from a short trip to Coerthas to speak with Ser Aymeric about the reconstruction of Ishgard, and instead of being made a fuss of in House Fortemps, he opted to teleport back (at 2am) and pass out in his usual bed.
When he awoke, much earlier than most of the others, he went through his normal routine despite the yawns that escaped him. Once ready, he made his way down the hallway to the stairs to begin brewing some tea to wake him up, when he heard a yelp coming from a different room.
With a concerned look, he knocked on the door. There was some shuffling heard.
“Vidri? Is aught amiss? Are you…hurt?” He asked tentatively, used to hearing shouting from his sister when he showed his concern this early in the morning.
“No.” Came a quiet reply.
“Vidri, if you’re trying to convince me that you’re alright you’re doing a poor job of it.” He placed a hand on the door, a dozen scenarios going through his mind. She was a capable healer, so she shouldn’t be too injured, but what if she can’t figure out the problem?
“May I come in?” He asked, hesitantly. It was rather rude of a gentleman like himself to be entering a young lady’s quarters this early in the morning, but when he heard her give an affirmative to him, that didn’t matter.
He turned the knob and the sight that awaited him only made him freeze, then burst into a small fit of laughter. Sitting on the bed, Vidri was still in her own pajamas, sky blue colored shirt and pants, with a cute blue carbuncle print all over them. But what made him laugh was her teary eyes as she tried her hardest to untangle her hair from her horns.
“Don’t laugh! It’s never been this bad.” She pouted, wincing as she tried to untangle her fingers. He raised his hands up in surrender as he stepped forward.
“Pray, forgive me, I didn’t mean to laugh, but the whole scene is quite silly. Here, allow me to assist.”
He stepped over to her and began to inspect the tangle from every angle. He lifted it up slightly, careful not to tangle it more around her own fingers. She readjusted herself on her bed to turn her back to him, trusting him to not do anything funny to her. She heard him remove his gloves and watched out of the corner of her eyes at the shadows from the lamp.
“This is pretty bad. It looks like you were tossing and turning all night.” He muttered, his thin fingers gently running through some of the strands and stopping as soon as he felt the slightest resistance. “First thing’s first, lets untangle your hands from it all.” It couldn’t have been comfortable for her to have her arms raised so long.
He held one of her hands as his fingers worked to uncoil the curls from the scales. It’s surprising that it got this bad, as he’s 99% sure that she had naturally extremely curly hair so she would know how to deal with this. There, one hand became free. She slowly pulled it back and set it in her lap as he worked on freeing her other hand with the same gentleness.
“Alright, now you’re free.” He hummed as she held her hands in her lap. She tipped her head back and looked up at him.
“Would you mind helping me with this? I fear I'll only end up either ripping my hair out or getting it even more tangled.” She asked him, hoping this wasn't going to ick him out.
“Ah yes, one moment.” He inspected the room and spotted a collection of combs and brushes, but saw that she didn’t really have any products for untangling. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to grab some water.” He ran out and in just a few minutes returned with a spray bottle, a towel, and a jar with a white band around the neck. It smelled really nice.
“Mother would use this on our hair all the time, and it became a habit.” He set the bottles down beside Vidri and lifted her tangled hair to place the towel on her back. He then began his work, spritzing her hair with the water first, and using the combs and brushes to untangle the knots slowly and carefully.
With every short segment he untangled, he added some of the contents of the white jar into the segment, then set it forward over her shoulder.
Vidri found that his gentle untangling was soothing, and it took her some effort to not drift off. He was being extra careful not to tug on her hair at all. She felt the weight of it all slowly growing as her hair was separated from itself and coated in the creme.
“When did you return?” She asked him, making some conversation to fill the silence. She wasn’t comfortable with it being so quiet.
“I got back pretty late. I didn’t want to bother Lord Edmont for a room, and Ser Aymeric said that an adventuring party took up every room at the Forgotten Knight.” He answered, finally reaching the halfway point of her hair. The cream he had been putting on her hair had begun to dry, so her coils were coming back quite fetchingly. She didn’t seem to notice it yet.
“How big was the party?” Vidri tilted her head slightly. Most parties tended to be 4-5 people, maybe 8 at max, but then she recalled that the Brume wasn’t exactly a huge inn, so she shook her head. “Never mind, that doesn’t matter.”
Alphinaud spritzed more water on her hair, and earned a gasp from his charge, as the water hit her more against her neck than he intended.
“Ack. Apologies Vidri.” He took the edge of the towel and lightly dabbed at her neck. The water shouldn’t have been too cold, he hoped.
“No it’s okay. I just wasn’t ready for it.” She muttered, hoping her cheeks didn’t reveal her embarrassment.
With practiced ease, he readjusted the towel on her shoulders, and then set to work on knocking out the biggest knot so far. It must have been the cause, since it seemed to have been completely tangled up in the cuffs she wore on her horns, and was that…her earring?
“Vidri, you didn't even remove your jewelry." He gently admonished her, earning a sheepish duck of her head.
“I forgot. I came back from running some messages to the Admiral and I just wanted to sleep.” She pouted. He sighed and shook his head.
“Well that explains how I found you.” He continued, slowly pressing the teeth of the comb at the ends of her hair and tugging. The tips weren't as tangled up as higher up, but he needed to ensure that they were knot-free first.
He reached into the jar and took a larger portion of the cream than he had on the previous sections. The product was slowly worked into the knot, and even just with that the hair became much looser and easier to work with.
“Excuse me for a second.” He wiped his fingers on the towel and reached in to unfasten the cuff on her horn and her earring. She shuddered a little, not used to someone touching those spots besides her.
“Sorry, sorry. It must be uncomfortable.” He backpedaled, his hands releasing the jewelry. She shook her head.
“No, it's fine. It was a reflex.” She deflected, glancing back to give him what she hoped was a comforting smile. He nodded slowly and went back to unfastening. They easily opened up and he handed them to her to hold while he finished.
“How did you get so good at this?” She asked as he resumed. He let out a laugh.
“My mother tended to go overboard when we were younger, and she taught Alisaie and I how to do all this after we accidently stuck gum in each other's hair.”
“How is that ‘accidentally’ done?” She raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged.
“Prank gone wrong.” He simply answered. “Why do you think we have the same hairstyle now?”
“I thought that was just because you were born twins!” He laughed and kept working, and with just a short amount of time more, the tangle was completely gone.
“There we are.” Vidri reached behind her head and felt smooth hair, and her fingers never got caught on anything.
“Oh thank you so much Alphinaud!” She turned around to face him, and his heart skipped a beat at the beaming smile she gave him. “Truthfully I didn’t know what I would have done without your help!”
“Perish the thought, you would have figured it out.” He stammered, using his bangs to hide his flushed cheeks. He took the towel back from her shoulders and dried off his hands as she dashed over to the full-length mirror to inspect her hair.
“I’ll leave you now to get ready. It’s about time for Tataru and F'lhaminn to get breakfast going.” He grabbed the items he brought with him and left her to get ready.
Stepping outside, his fuzzy feeling and sappy smile was met by one raised eyebrow from Thancred Waters.
“Oh, Thancred. Good morning. I trust you’ve been well?” He asked, seemingly unaware of what this looked like.
“Not as well as some of us, it seems.” Alphinaud was confused. Thancred placed a hand on his head and dunked him a bit before walking away, leaving the boy even more confused.
–
The Rising Stones was bustling with activity now, as all the residents had woken up and began to enjoy breakfast together. The Scions had opted to grab a table near the bar, and while Urianger and Y’shtola conversed over a mutually read tome, Alphinaud was sipping some tea and reviewing his grimoire.
“Alphinaud!” Vidri’s voice was loud and clear as she rushed up to their table. The boy looked up from his book as she settled down in front of him.
“I trust you are enjoying the effect?” He chuckled, setting his teacup down on the saucer. She gave a swift twirl, her curls bouncing playfully with the movement. She held them close and was tilting them slightly, catching the warm lighting of the room against her blue dyed tips.
“Yes yes yes!” The pure joy on her face was priceless. He could hardly recall the last time she was this happy about something.
“Well, if you ever need my help again, I’ll be a short hallway away.” She nodded and set her coat on an empty chair so she could get something to eat. As soon as she was out of earshot, both of the older Scions moved their chairs closer to the boy.
“So. What’s this whole interaction about?” Y’shtola asked, silver eyes narrowing and boring into his own.
“Why, twould seem the budding of spring for our young master Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light.” Urianger nodded sagely, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Surely thou hast seeneth the two of them around one another.”
“Our little lord had such an eventful morning with our shining eikon-slayer. I saw him leave her quarters at sunup.” Thancred had come up with a mug of steaming coffee, a wicked grin on his features. Y’shtola’s eyes narrowed and she whirled back to stare down Alphinaud, who was now beginning to feel like a trapped mouse.
“Well now! That's quite interesting. Pray tell us what you were doing at sunup in a lady's quarters?”
When Vidri returned, Alphinaud had his face buried in his hands as Urianger and Thancred kept talking about “youth” and “spring”. Besides them, Y'shtola had a frown on her features and she moved close to Vidri.
“Do not let strange boys into your room, do you understand young lady?” Vidri then wore the same confused look as Alphinaud had worn earlier, and looked at the boy for a moment.
"But Alphinaud's not a strange--"
Seeing the look on Y'shtola's face however, all Vidri could do was close her mouth and nod.