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meximango · 8 months

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Day 11 - once bitten, twice shy - PG - Cahsi + Haurchefant

Summary: Haurchefant interrupts Cahsi's work. She is not the friendliest.

The sound of a cup of hot cocoa being placed heavily onto the table near her piles of books brought Cahsi out of her own head. She had a feeling the cup would have been set directly onto her papers she’d been staring at blankly and uncomprehendingly for the past quarter bell if she wasn’t known to lash out when startled--sometimes violently. It would have served no one well to have the desk covered in the steaming, sugary drink. Just think of the poor books! She looked up to find exactly who she expected: Haurchefant, the only friendly face in this gods-forsaken snowy wasteland. One of the only people who hadn’t tried calling her a heretic. Certainly the only person to try offering her food with an actual taste to it (Ishgard’s cuisine was not for her).

Rather than being a balm on wounds, or a reassuring presence, the man’s kindness set her on edge, raising the hair on her tail whenever he was a bit too friendly. She was always stuck waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Too often in her experience, such boundless kindness was a front, just a way for someone to try to manipulate themselves into getting something out of her. She’d rather someone be upfront in their malicious intentions, get it over with. Perhaps spending half a decade in the pirate capital and finding herself hanging around seedy establishments and just as often working for them as a waitress had not helped her biases, but she hadn’t been wrong yet.

Nice people could not be trusted. They either played the long con before finally stabbing you in the back fully, or in the rare circumstances where they were truly good, truly kind, where did that get them? It got them destroyed and betrayed. Look what had happened with the scions, just when she’d started to feel like she might fit in with them one day, when she’d started to grow attached… Well, no more of that. Once bitten, twice shy. She’d learned her lesson. Everyone would leave her again, everything would get taken away from her again. First her birth parents, then her adoptive dad, then the rest of her family, now the scions. It was an unrelenting and unavoidable pattern, so she would make it easier on herself. When she had nothing to begin with, nobody to care about, then there could be nothing to lose, and that meant keeping people at arm’s length. Especially “nice” people who brought her hot cocoa unprompted and smiled sweetly and asked about her day like he actually cared. It took a lot of willpower to push the drink away, especially when she noticed it had little marshmallows in it (be strong, Cahsi!). She was just about as picky about what she imbibed as what she ate, and this was unfortunately one of the favorite things she’d tried while in this land. She was a sucker for sweets, and it would do a wonderful job of staving off the biting cold--she hadn’t realized how numb her fingertips were until she had touched them to the mug to slide it back across the desk toward the elezen who had been quite presumptuous to bring it in the first place. She did her best to level him with a cool, unappreciative stare. “Perhaps Alphinaud would be a better suited recipient for such a drink. I have no need of it.” Ha. Not even a thanks. That would teach him. Maybe he’d finally give up trying to befriend her and just leave her alone.

(Then again, she really thought she deterred him for good when she nearly attacked him in the midst of a panic attack after he’d revealed the thoughtful ‘gift’ of a black chocobo he had raised himself, demanding he take it away and stay away from her before she did something rash. She had outright refused to ride that blasted bird, barely looking at it before she instead summoned her carbuncle with a little extra oomph, making Rosie large enough to ride through the skies. Honestly, who thought such a dangerous, taloned, beast would be a good present. She saw it as the threat it was and would have nightmares for weeks--to think that some breed of chocobo could fly!)

He grinned at that, as though she’d told a joke. What in the hells. “Very kind of you to think of him, but no worries. I already gave him a mug of his own. If you change your mind, it’ll be here. It seemed like you could use a pick-me-up, was all. You’ve been hard at work!” Instead of leaving, like any sane person who’s being treated as coldy as the weather outside, the knight pulled back a chair and sat diagonally to her at the table. He crossed his arms on the wooden surface casually, that smile never leaving his face. She moved her tower of books to block his face from view, but he just leaned to the side to continue eye contact. Cahsi’s ears flattened a bit against her head. “Are you waiting to be excused? If so, then you are. Have at it.” She almost considered added shooing motions to really get her point across and through his apparently thick skull. “I’m on break. Even knights get those, and who better to spend it with than an esteemed hero such as yourself?” He waggled his eyebrows. Not a hero, she wanted to bite out. A hero would be able to save her frie--colleagues instead of running away. Maybe she should have said it, sour his mood, make him regret sauntering over here with his banal flirting. Go hit on someone who cares, yeesh. “I think you mean heretic. It's still everyone's favorite word around here, from what I can tell. If I hadn’t fallen down witchdrop early on in my stay, I’m sure the local guards would have thrown me down there themselves.” “And yet, here you are enjoying the city’s resources, free from further harassment--” Her raised eyebrow was effective in making him stutter; he put his hands up in mock surrender. “--a-apart from me, of course, ha. You proved yourself to them. They don’t say such things anymore, no matter what you may believe. They think you’re a bit…impersonal, bordering on rude--but that you’re dependable too! You may grumble plenty about a job, but you don’t really say no to lending a helping hand when it’s truly needed, either.”

He was always so quick to smooth out a sharp statement with a soft one. A chaser. She wished he’d spare the flattery, she wouldn’t break just because some stuffy arseholes had a low opinion of her and saw her as little more than a task master. Alphinaud was the diplomat in the group, she was there to provide the firepower. And to go on fetch quests, apparently. “How fortunate for me they’ve grown comfortable enough to ask even more of me.” Her words dripped with sarcasm. “I have more important things to do than be stopped by every poor sod with a sob story, you know.” “Hmm.” There was a thoughtfulness to that word, so much there that wasn’t being said. She jumped to every worst conclusion possible, every uncharitable meaning, and it made her blood pressure rise. Like so many things these days, it made her angry. “What does that mean, ‘hmm’, hmm?” She began to bare her fangs in warning. “Oh, not so much as you are assigning it, I’m sure. You are just so easy and fun to rile up. I came over here to relieve some of your stress, but it seems I’ve added some fire to your soul instead!” At that, he finally laughed.

Her chair screeched against the tile as she stood up, ready to either fight him or walk away, she was not sure which would win out. That finally alarmed him. He hadn’t meant to make her leave. He’d interrupted her, and he regretted that it was coming to this. She couldn’t help but relish the sudden frown on his face, even as it made her feel a bit guilty at the same time.

“Wait.” A request, a hint of pleading. Missing the teasing tone, pure sincerity. “I do like teasing, but you are not in the mood. I apologize. May I start over?” Why was he trying so hard? People gave up so quickly and easily when she was like this, but Haurchefant was different. He seemed apologetic, even though he hadn’t really done anything. Cahsi just had a short fuse for much of anything these days.

She gave a silent nod of assent, and the way his eyes lit up like that was embarrassing. What a pathetic guy. She shouldn’t inspire those kinds of feelings in people just because she deigned to give them her time.

The elezen cleared his throat as though preparing a speech. “Why, hello Cahsi! So lovely to see you--” (oh, he really was starting over) “--I brought you a hot chocolate to cheer you up, as you seemed to be a bit under the weather. Possibly overwhelmed from everything you’ve been thrown into lately. Would you care to talk about it, or talk in general?” It was straightforward, exactly what she’d previously been hoping for. Ugh. Damn him. She paused. perhaps because she was thinking, but more than likely purposefully--just long enough to start making the knight squirm and sweat and feel awkwardness crawl down his neck before she finally sighed. “Alright.” Before he could do something as foolish or ridiculous as thank her for being willing to chat with him on his break, she held up a finger and continued. “But do not say I did not warn you. I may rant. It may involve many swear words and complaints about your home.” Haurchefant grinned once more. “I won’t tell anyone else, lest their ears burn. You may find I can rant with the best of them.” He swung his arm in front of his chest, ending in a thumbs up, his signature, dorky, reassuring pose. She sincerely doubted this man could find two mean-spirited words to say if they bit him on the arse, but hey, he asked for it. He didn’t seem cowed by the prospect, once more willing to put up with her farther than expected.

She brought the flask at her side out (yes, the one with alcohol, which she used to keep the chill at bay in this wintery wasteland. She wasn’t a lush, but it was impossible to deal with Ishgardian goingson without at least a little relief), pouring some of its contents into the hot chocolate. Haurchefant raised his eyebrows a bit at that but didn’t seem to judge her daydrinking. For a second she almost thought she saw envy in those eyes. Wouldn’t do for a knight to drink on the job, huh? She took a long swig of the drink, and ok, maybe alcohol shouldn’t be mixed with the marshmallowy kind of hot chocolate, but it was still pretty good, and it loosened her up enough to have an actual conversation with this actual nice person without actually biting his head off. He could thank her for her restraint later.

“So, where to start… Oh! How about that wild goose chase I was sent on earlier. Completely soaked my clothes through with icewater when I…” Haurchefant definitely stayed on break longer than he was supposed to, Cahsi definitely drank all of the hot chocolate and also definitely enjoyed herself more than she promised she would in their back and forth venting. For an eternally friendly knight who exuded heroism and good will, he certainly hadn’t been lying about being able to rant with the best of them. He’d even managed to teach her a swear or two, which was impressive.

Cahsi wouldn’t say that she would like to repeat this sort of conversing often. She certainly wouldn’t call it camaraderie. But…it was surprisingly not terrible. There were few things about this place that weren’t terrible, so maybe it would be fine to indulge in this sort of thing again--if the knight didn’t piss her off too badly first; her tolerance levels were wont to change at a moment’s notice.

The hot chocolate he made, at least, was worth it.

#ffxivwrite2023 #ffxivwrite #ffxiv oc #haurchefant greystone #haurchefant: I can fix her #Meanwhile cahsi is just a hissing kitten who will attack anyone who comes close. she was nice enough if distant during most of arr #then she became an angry bitch for most of HW. Sorry alphy and haurch for dealing with that #anyway cahsi never got too close to haurch. wouldn't allow it. and he tried but he just couldn't get it right most of the time #they would be great friends if they'd met at different points in life D: which is so sad.#also oof my guy giving cahsi a chocobo is a surefire way to gain her hatred. how was he suppoed to know she's terrified of them! What a mes #mango writes #anyway I felt bad for only writing his dying breaths in the last one so here we get a tiny bit more of him. I need to replay arr and hw #I seriously remember so little other than hot choco + black chocobo + his death lol poor guy

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