bakerstreet | when things break bad...

Peace. Loneliness. Does he know the difference these days?

"Maybe it's a good place to visit for a time. Perhaps you're right." And it's a long trip, one that would pass him by other friends.

It's.... something.

"You should take books. Do not be alone in your mind. Solitude is the bars of imprisonment to a sharp mind."

This he knows from experience if he is honest. The only thing that has tempted him to wander has been the hope of not being alone.

"Finish eating. You should rest. I will send a message and then cook more."

That advice comes from experience with the conviction David has. Balthier silently studies his face as he eats, so many questions about this Viera who seems sworn to the Wood but so restless...and lonely.

"Yes sir," he says, lightly teasing, which surprises him. Another impulse he hasn't had for a long while.

David rose with the regal grace native to his kind, and moved to a side room. Soon he was returning with a small hawk on his arm, one that a paper had already been tied to the leg of. This he walked to the door, took the jesses off of, and then let fly.

"There, she will see the message gets where she needs. Now, in case they should not wish to see you tomorrow, are there foods you like? Perhaps I can try to make it."

"Do you think it unlikely they will see me soon?" Balthier asks. He doesn't particularly want to have this discussion hanging over him, but he finds he's not opposed to more time with this particular Viera.

"I quite like roasted root vegetables and mallows. And your meat is excellent."

"I do not know what they will and will not do. I am not of them, I do not know how they think."

Or so he believes. He just doesn't know how many Viera think. His heart was not made the same as those of his people, and he wished to be a traveler and a scholar. But men didn't leave.

"Alright, I shall make both of those. I have some last few root vegetables. I shall put them together for you."

And he'd get another sack or two of them while he was in the village.

"Fair enough," Balthier says, chuckling lightly. Gods, Viera rationality is refreshing and comforting.

As he eats and talks, he feels the fatigue start to set in, a pleasant weight instead of just the haze of groggy wakefulness he's usually in.

"I think I'm going to sleep," he says after eating his fill. "Thank you for this. Truly."

He hesitates as he stands. "I...sometimes I have nightmares. Mist visions. I will try not to disturb you."

He would be glad to know he's refreshing. And he's pleased to hear the man will rest. David turns from his preparations and moves to help the man to the bed. Tucking Balthier in? Definitely going to happen.

"Would it help you if I spelled you to sleep?"

Knowing Viera find Hume covering of skin nonsensical anyway, Balthier strips to his undergarments, not wanting to soil the bed. But when he climbs into bed and David moves to setting the blankets around him, Balthier finds himself genuinely speechless.

Perhaps something he's read in a book or heard in a story, or he remembers from being with an older mentor. Still, there's something comforting about it, and raw beneath that, and Balthier finds his throat tightening, unable to correct the odd social behavior.

"I -- yes. That might."

"Good," he says to the agreement, even as he smooths the blankets. Then he raised a finger in the air and began to channel the Mist into the magic of his people. His finger sketches through the air leaving a trail of golden light that faded into green. It was not the most complex of spells, so the drawing was brief, but still done with the grace his people always used for their spells.

And when it was done there was a warm green light settling over Balthier, there to pull him down into peaceful sleep.

This was not the turn of events that David had expected of the encounter with Balthier, not by any measure. He had taken the Hume to Eryut Village, left him to speak with the Viera there, and acquired his supplies via trade. And he'd stayed silent about it, not prying into what Balthier had gone through when the Hume returned to him. Nor had he pressed when he had been asked for shelter for another night or two. Instead he had guided Balthier back to his home, expecting the Hume to carry some of the supplies.

And they had even had a few quiet, peaceful days. David had clearly gone hunting for fresher meat, and focused on preparing what he could to restore strength to the Hume for whatever new path he would set out upon. His entire goal had been to help the Hume feel better and give him the strength to carry on, maybe even prepare supplies for him to resume in whatever his life was to be.

Then he had heard the voice of the Wood, and both fear and longing had rendered David a bit more quiet for a few days while Balthier had prepared to finally depart. He kept the secret of the word of the Wood, right up until it was time. It took nothing with the way the Hume was still so withdrawn from the world to insist on walking him to the limits of the Wood, and less to offer to carry some supplies for him, to keep Balthier's strength up.

But now here they were, and here David must commit to what he was told. Fear and longing.

"Where does your path take you from here?" he asked, standing at the border that he knew that, once he crossed, he could no longer turn back.

Telling his tale had been difficult. He knew it would be, but the Viera staring at him silently, knowing in his heart how many of them judged Fran for leaving -- it had rattled him. He'd told most of it with silent tears on his face. But it had been relieving, too, to let some of it out, and as he left, Mjrn had stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder. My sister was happier after she met you.

David was waiting for him as he left, and Balthier mustered what strength he had to beg another night or two of shelter. He wouldn't make it out of the Wood alone, he knew, and now that his task was done he was faced with the surreal reality that he needed another. Truly, he had not considered what came after this.

As low and withdrawn as he felt, it was a blessing to have David's steady company, and especially that the other expected him to help. He would miss this. But he would not ask for more. Already he'd been given so much. Already, his mind was turning over what books to get the other, where he might find them, trying to skirt away from the painful reality that many places he'd passed freely before were not safe anymore.

Still, the time came, and Balthier couldn't help feeling sadness at parting from this new friend. He doesn't mind being delayed here at the threshold, one he may not cross again.

"Balfonheim, I think." Honestly he didn't love Balfonheim, but that meant it had fewer memories. And it was independent. "I will take stock of the state of things, see if there's work that interests me." Perhaps he could help people fleeing the Empire, or offer his services to Rozarria as they prepared for war. "They have good fish there, too."

"I've never had fish," David observed, then took a step forward.

He almost staggered as he crossed the line. There was a lack in him, one that hurt. But this was the path he had been sent down, and he had no choice. The line had been crossed, and he would keep going.

Balthier's eyes went wide, knowing what it meant to cross that edge. And if he didn't David's normally elegant poise turning to a stumble would have alerted him.

"David?" he asked, instinctively moving to steady the other. "Does the Wood have business for you out here?" Perhaps to make sure he could not return -- that would make sense, to cut him off. He was a hume and had cost one of theirs.

Some frantic part of him worried perhaps this was exile, that somehow he'd tainted David with his association.

David had to focus on breathing for right now, on trying to find a center with the new gap in his mind and heart. The wood was gone, the word lost, and he was alone. More alone than ever before.

"She said I must go. Balance must be found, or the jungles and villages would burn."

It was exile for him, and he had never been more scared in his life.

Fran spoke of how hard the first weeks were without the Wood. Balthier wasn't going to insult David with empty sympathy, but he does put a hand on the other's arm, squeezing it firmly.

"She must respect you a great deal to entrust you with this."

Balance or the Wood burning. It makes Balthier's stomach tight, but he had worried about as much himself. He just -- didn't honestly see what one Viera was going to do about it. But he wasn't about to let David try to follow that objective alone, especially knowing so little of the Hume world.

"You will travel with me, as long as you wish to." He wasn't sure how appealing of an offer it was, but David had it so long as he wanted it.

"I think she believes no other would agree," David countered. Faith in him? No. The Wood would not be so foolish.

It was a relief, though, to know he would have companionship.

"I am grateful. I do not know what to do. The world of the Humes is unknown to me."

"Do Viera turn down the Green Word?" Maybe it's insensitive to ask right now, but it genuinely surprises him.

The vulnerability, though, reminds him to be mindful. "Balfonheim is a port, and it is independent of the warring states. It is a good place to find information." He squeezes David's arm again. "They have good book shops, too."

"You've seen plenty of Viera out of the Wood," David points out. He knows it happens. It is rare, but it happens. "And had I refused, she would not have turned me away."

He, though, had not chosen this. Even if he might have wanted to.

"You will not abandon me then?"

That's fair enough, and Balthier doesn't know how explicit the Green Word is presented. Still, the last bit makes him consider his words. After that first night, he did not push David on his interest in the outside world, but it's clear the Viera has it. There's a reason he did not refuse, even if the cost is enormous.

"You may travel with me as long as you wish," Balthier reiterates. "And I'll probably tell you to wait if you try to part with me before I'm sure you can navigate Humes alright. They're not nearly so direct as Viera, or as logical."

"I fear that this new will mean that I am bound to you for a while. Are you certain that this is something with which you will be comfortable?"

He knew the man might not wish the weight of another Viera on his shoulders, this one inexperienced.

Balthier shrugs, giving David a wry smile. “It gives me a purpose that means something. I’d be a fool not to take that compass direction.”

And honestly, he enjoys David’s company.

Well, that was something he could accept.

"Then I shall try and not hinder you."

“I dont suspect that will be an issue.” He’s been enough of a hindrance, morose and — while they have been weaker — plagued by nightmares. “Or at least, I will be enough of a hindrance to make us even.”

Still, there’s no sense staying here, where David likely can no longer pass, and so he takes a few steps to see if the other wishes to progress.

"You know the way the world is outside of the wood," David countered.

But Balthier was moving, and so the Viera straightened himself, tried to ignroe the pain, and began to walk. What else could he do after all?

"Is the distance we must travel long?

Bad End AU Meme

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The Time Skip Discussed

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