[ A very scared Zelda hiding under Aeron's desk, in the Captain's cabin, after a violent attack ]
“Ah, there you are.”
Aeron was still covered in blood when he found Zelda. He didn't think the girl would hide in his own quarters, since he was, after all, the reason she was so terrified. At least partly. He had searched in other hiding places in vain, and ended up figuring out that the girl would come out when she felt like it. He went back in his cabin to clean the blood. Aeron had no problem getting blood all over him. But when said blood started to dry and become crusty, that was a truly unpleasant sensation.
When he saw Zelda flinch and stay under the desk, he decided to wait a bit and resume what he originally came for. He got over the bassin and started cleaning off the blood. He took off his shirt and started searching his closet for a clean one. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Zelda starting to relax. Her breath getting more even. What a perfect opportunity for a joke.
“Usually seeing me shirtless takes people's breath away, but it gave yours back. I'm not sure how to take it.”
He was quite amuzed, and he figured Zelda would be too if she was still not recovering from the shock. When he finally put on a clean shirt, he came closer and sat on the floor, at the foot of his bed, just in front of the girl's hiding place. Their eyes locked for a moment and he could see she was still terrified.
Aeron didn't expect her to react this way. He sometimes forgot that most people weren't used to the same degree of violence he became desensitized to. They were in the middle of a perfectly fine conversation about a mad hatter who was particularly fond of tea when a few of his crew came to interrupt rather vigorously. Protesting about how a girl on a ship was a bad omen, how Aeron was distracted ever since she got here. He was distracted, but a mutiny wasn't something he would allow. (And clearly these mortal boys didn't meet his mother if they think girls were weak). So it got bloody really fast. Two died at the hand of the fae. One by being sent overboard in a particularly sharky area, the other with a sword through his chest. It lasted only a few seconds and had the rather efficient effect to remind the others that they shouldn't go against their captain. But Zelda had been mute ever since. And then she went away.
“Do you want me to drop you at the next port we'll land in?” Aeron asked, which had the effect to snap back the blonde to reality. She looked at him again.
“What?”
“I could do that if you wanted to.”
“...... Do you want to get rid of me?” She asked in a little voice.
“No. That's not what I want. But Zelda, staying here means you can't freeze when I get violent. We were lucky the past weeks, but if you stay you'll witness more deaths. More violent that these ones.”
“I didn't mean to freeze. But I got scared.”
“Which brings me back to my original question. Do you want to leave?”
“No. I... I don't want to be alone.” She almost stopped shaking now. She confessed that to him one night where she came into his bed and he changed her nightmare into a dream. “Why choose to be a pirate? If it's so... violent.”
He smirked. “I don't mind the violence. Most times I actually enjoy it. But I don't think violence is in your nature.”
“Didn't you say that most faes had a talent for violence? Maybe it's why I'm a changeling and my parents got rid of me.”
“I don't think you're a changeling, because I don't think you're a fae.”
She locked eyes with him again, confused. “But you said-”
“You lied earlier.” He had not realized this sooner, because she had been mostly honest with him, but today she did lie. “When John came closer to us with his knife and you said you weren't scared. You were. That was a lie. A great one, it's what you should say. But still a lie.”
“It was just a small lie... Something I said on instinct.”
“Faes can't lie at all. Not even a little. We bend the truth but we can't lie. Which means that you're an elf.” She raised an eyebrow and he laughed. “I don't know how I didn't notice this sooner. Usually you guys live in the trees now.”
“What's an elf? You didn't talk about elves.”
The was a lot to unpack there. Talking about elves would mean talking about the war, and he had a feeling she was not stable enough for this conversation. She had come out of under the desk to sit next to him, the curiosity calming her. Even with dried tears and blood, she was beautiful. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do more than just kiss her. But he just sighed and answered instead.
“I didn't think it was necessary. I'll tell you about elves tonight. But then you'll need to decide what you want to do. Tomorrow we'll arrive in Egypt. We'll stay there for a few days, there's a few repairs I have to do on the ship.” He was actually excited at that prospect. He always loved mechanics. “You'll have until we leave to decide if you're ready for that life or if you want to try to find peace elsewhere.”
“.... Your crew don't like me, Aeron.”
“I don't give a fuck what they think.” He slowly touched her cheek. He didn't know why, he just did it, and then pretended to wipe a tear away. “They'll warm up to you eventually and if they don't, I don't care. As long as you stay with me, they won't touch you. But I can't protect you from everything. So if you decide to stay, we'll have to teach you some basic self defense skills. And maybe get you a sword. I have a feeling you'll do great with a sword.”
She was smiling now, and it was truly unfair because Aeron wanted to kiss her again. They almost kissed a few days ago, when he called her intriguing, but they were interrupted. And she responded quite well to his flirting. But he understood enough to know that he shouldn't do the first move. Even if they got closer now, and she took his hand, and she said in a happy voice:
“You think I could use a sword? You don't think I'm weak because I ran away?”
“I called you intriguing didn't I? I'm only intrigued by strong people, know that. I'm not a generous or good person. If I thought you were weak I would've asked you to leave already.”
“But it's not what you want.” She said, repeating his words from before.
“No, it's not what I want.”
“So what do you want?”
She had whispered those words. It was a sign of how close they were now. Their sides were almost pressed together and she didn't let go of his hand. She was looking at him with those deep green eyes that made him feel light-headed and her lips looked so soft. They were in dangerous territory, but he always loved danger, so his smirk grew wider.
“You don't want to know what I want.”
“Tell me anyhow. Please.”
It looked like a challenge, and he never backed down from a challenge. “Fine. I want you to stay with me. I want you to want to stay with me. I want us to get you actual proper pirate clothes when we land so you can stay, and lead us to some more treasures and adventures. And I want to kiss you.” He paused a second, just to examine her reaction. “But I won't. You have my word. Not until you do it first.”
It's when he let go of her hand. He was used to flirting, probably harder than that, but he was not used to want to kiss someone that much. It was unsettling. Which is why he got up before she could answer.
“I'll let you change now. I'll go assess the damages I'll need to repair. Take some time to make up your mind.”
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Was doing some thinking today and realized that one of the reasons I'm really drawn to Kieran is because he's a rare example of a character that's shy (and usually good-hearted) but still has some rougher edges to him.
I feel like all too often shy characters are shoved into being portrayed as either "smol bean who would never hurt anyone and just wants friends uwu" or "brooding loner who snaps at people to cover up the fact they don't actually know how to socialize" with not a lot of wiggle room in between. While I can and do enjoy characters that (arguably) fall into those respective categories, they're a bit reductive in the sense that things are very rarely that black and white in reality. Even the kindest people have a limit to what they can tolerate. They have bad days or respond poorly to events around them that cause them stress. And the same can be said in reverse as well—point being, people are multifaceted and don't always behave as predictably as we'd like to think.
And I think Kieran reflects that dichotomy perfectly. When we first meet him, he's meek, timid, and relies heavily on his more brash and forceful older sister to help him navigate social situations where he would otherwise lose out on something valuable because he's too afraid to come forward and ask for what he wants (like how she has to ask the player to battle him on his behalf). He's often quick to cower whenever she starts to get heated, but he's also not afraid to point out when he thinks she's wrong and sometimes even gets sassy with her himself. He's undeniably sweet and gentle and shows eagerness to make friends with the player, but he becomes much more curt when he notices we're lying to him about Ogerpon. The rest of the Teal Mask storyline shows him fluctuating even further—yelling at Carmine and the player for keeping secrets from him, punching things in fits of anger...then backpedaling and apologizing for the trouble he caused a few scenes later. Spreading the truth about Ogerpon to everyone in the village to help make her happy...then selfishly demanding a battle to see who's worthy of being her Trainer when she has already clearly chosen the player.
After being lied to and suffering repeated losses at our hands (including the Pokemon he's idolized all his life choosing us over him), he leans even more heavily into his bitter side during the Indigo Disk—being cold and ruthless to pretty much everyone around him, but at the end of the day it's primarily overcompensation for what he perceives as his own personal weakness (because he's still just a kid trying to be taken seriously). He's shown to drop the act on multiple occasions—most notably when he's caught off guard by our appearance at Blueberry Academy and at a few points during the Area Zero expedition. He antagonizes the player up until the moment of his defeat and tries to catch and use Terapagos in a last-ditch moment of desperation that ends up going horribly wrong, but after everything resolves he's quick to admit his mistakes and asks the player for forgiveness and if they can still be friends. After the epilogue he's mostly back to his old self, but still seems to get worked up when provoked (e.g. when he yells at Drayton for refusing to stop calling him "ex-Champ" in one of their League Club Room interactions).
And I think this varied and sometimes contradictory behavior is precisely why Kieran is such a cohesive and believable character—because it shows how even kind, well-meaning people may have a hidden darker side that can show itself under the right circumstances. How they might let their insecurities get the better of them. How a shy, timid kid might not have the experience to know how to deal with sudden feelings of frustration and/or jealousy that are far too strong to keep to himself, so he lashes out as a result. How despite all this he remains kind, sensitive and loving at his core and shows willingness to learn from his mistakes. And that is what makes him so compelling to me.
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