diademlogs | closed — long live the fast times

[ Theft is not something that Alisaie would normally prescribe to. Not unless there was a perfectly good reason (see: the Blackout Riot last month) and even then it is entirely possible that it would weigh on her conscious. Take for instance the "looting" that she had taken part in during the blackouts; each item she had taken had been meticulously accounted for along with a reminder to repay the shop owners for whatever it is she had taken upon their return.

Which is why she cannot be accused of trying to steal Estinien's bike.

Despite having moved to the Sanctum with her brother and G'raha, the same couldn't be said about her part-time jobs. At the end of another shift at the bakery she's enroute back when she spots Estinien's motorbike. It's hard to say whether or not it is parked and/or temporarily abandoned but that's barely a passing thought as another idea forms in her mind: why not take it for a bit of a joyride?

He'd said in passing that he would teach her if she wanted to. And she did want to. So why not now? (And maybe, in the process, she might prank him a little too by moving it several blocks away from where he'd left it much in the same way Aria had to him when they'd arrived on this star.) Needless to say her mind is made up quite quickly.

For whatever reason it doesn't occur to her that his bike would be too big and heavy for her. All that she seems fixated on is teaching herself how to ride a motorbike because surely it can't be that difficult. And because it's Estinien, there really was no telling when he would return to his bike. It could be an hour from now. It could be a week. The point is that she would return it right to this spot when she was done.

Except she doesn't make it more than a couple of inches before the bike goes toppling over onto her with a loud crash. She squirms, trying to worm her way out from under the bike only to realize with mounting panic that she can't. The bike is too damn heavy. She grits her teeth, pushing against it in vain, motions becoming more and more erratic.

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit - ]

Edited 2026-04-02 01:50 (UTC)

[ Fortunately for her she's not under there overly long before it's lifted off her—one-handedly, at that, in an insulting display—and set upright again. Estinien peers down at her curiously, head tilted slightly. ]

Alisaie.

[ It is a greeting and a request for clarification both. He did not think he was gone overly long, is the thing, delivering the orders for Frieda that clustered in this area. A few hops over the rooftops, a few knocks on windows, and his hands were empty in short order. To return and find a young Scion magically buried under his bike on return is perhaps something worth questioning. ]

'Tis good to see you. Is aught amiss?

[ At the sound of Estinien's voice she finds herself stilling immediately as the bike is lifted off her with one hand.

Well this is humiliating.

Out of all of the outcomes that she could have conjured up in her mind, Estinien being the one to find her is probably the worst possible one. Not that it's any surprise to her that he's the one to find her. It is his bike after all.

Several beats of quiet follow his question as she slowly rights herself, dusting herself off which doesn't betray the sheer panic and embarrassment she's trying to wrangle back into place. ]

'Tis good to see you too. [ Trapped under his bike. ] Not at all. What would give you that impression?

It's not often I find you trapped under my bike.

[ Dry, so very dry. He's beginning to get the picture. The nonchalance is very telling. Alisaie, he's come to find, is not very shy about speaking her mind— save for when she's in the wrong and knows it. And so, he can't help but tease. ]

If I've interrupted you then I can put it back.

I wasn't trapped.

[ That's - wow, that's rude. And came out far snappier than someone who hadn't been trapped under his motorbike would say.

The point is that she would have gotten out eventually! Having a smaller frame means that she would have managed to wriggle her way out with some grim determination and stubbornness both of which she has in spades. ]

It looked like it was going to fall over so I went and tried to stop it.

[ Yeah! That's the lie we're going to run with. ]

I see.

[ His raised eyebrow says that he does. As does the faint quirk to his mouth. ]

My thanks for breaking its fall, Alisaie. [ She is going to kill you, Estinien. ] Unfortunately you do not quite have the leverage needed to accomplish such a feat. [ SHE IS GOING TO KILL YOU, ESTINIEN. ]

Do you not use your aether to fortify your body?

[ For a brief moment there is relief. Even if he is smirking however slightly she misreads it as a man who will simply let it go. Without Estinien having seen the moment she had tried to get on the bike in the first place she has plausible deniability. There is no proof for him to base his assumption on even if he had found her beneath it moments before.

Which means that despite how much as her ego is bruised, this is the best possible scenario. ]

Of course, it's the least –

[ And then he has to go and say that. Her smile freezes on her face as she stares up at him with those big blue eyes of hers. Is she contemplating murder behind that gaze? The likelihood is greater than you might think. ]

What gives you that idea?

[ It was highly unlikely that any of them thought they would stay the motel long term. So when the opportunity arose to move to greener (cleaner) pastures as it were, the discussion about it had been short lived.

There was more that had been factored in however that hadn't been voiced aloud. The twins were of a similar mind that leaving G'raha to his own devices might very well result in a worsening of his condition. Not just his crystal condition, mind you but his broke Baldesion student habits too. And they suspected that G'raha would have felt best being able to support and keep an eye on them in the way he had since they'd arrived.

Which is why they've all taken to the set up of their new (dorm) room with enthusiasm. The twins return to an empty room with laundry bags stuffed to the brim with the spoils of their diffusion zone adventure: high thread count sheets and plush new pillows for the lot of them.

It seems that you can take the twins out of a cushy estate but you can't take the cushy estate out of the twins. After kicking her boots off Alisaie quick to set about setting up their new beds. ]

Hurry - if we're quick about it we can set these up before Raha returns.

[ It's a surprise, okay!! And not in the least bit suspicious or criminal in nature. ]

Edited 2026-04-02 02:03 (UTC)

I've ensured that we'll have just enough time to ready things.

[ There's nothing like leaving a pile of Very Interesting material gathered from the Sanctum's library as a distraction for a fellow nerd. Like catnip, he anticipates it will happily occupy G'raha's time until he feels obliged to prepare dinner or check in on them or something. ]

And I suppose lucky for us, there isn't a lot to prepare.

[ These rooms are so small, there isn't exactly a lot of real estate to cover.

But now as he starts to pull their loot from one of the laundry bags, it's hard not to pause for a moment just to bask in the soft, silken feeling of a well-crafted bedsheet. He smooths a hand across the surface. ]

These sheets are almost as fine as the ones from home. How long has it been since we've slept in our old beds?

If you count the time in the First...ages.

[ If they were to put it to actual measurements, it has been a year and then some in the First and now nearly nine months here - but ages feels like more appropriate answer. Dwelling on every passing day that they wake here instead of even remotely closer to their star doesn't help her mood in the least.

Not about to dampen the mood however she takes to fluffing their new pillows with great enthusiasm. ]

Is this really how the other students lived?

[ In reference to the dorm rooms that is. Neither of them had stayed in the student accommodations during their time at the Studium. There hadn't been much of a point considering their home was mere steps away and well...their father simply hadn't wanted them to stay there as young as they had been. ]

Yes. [ Said nonchalantly, as he begins to unfold the first fitted sheet onto the mattress ... with just a bit of hesitation. In theory this seems a simple enough task, but he's never actually had to do it before. Admittedly, and with some small amount of embarrassment, Alphinaud realizes that they always had attendants for these tasks. ]

I believe so.

[ It's true, neither of them had ever stayed within any of the dorm suites themselves, but he had been invited to a number of brief gatherings, both great and a little more intimate. The rooms were not so dissimilar to the lodgings here. ]

They were still a little more cared for at the Studium, however. This establishment feels ... lived in.

[ Worn. Tired. Probably in need of a few upgrades. But still a much, much better situation than their old motel room. ]

[ It doesn't take that long to fluff a pillow. Especially when the pillows are already so plush but she seems to enjoy the act of violently getting them to maximum fluffiness. She is not so preoccupied however that she doesn't turn in time to see Alphinuad's slight hesitation as he embarks on setting up the first fitted sheet.

She should help him, right? Maybe she'll wait. Just to see if he can accomplish the task himself first. ]

Given the Studium's renown I would have been shocked if they were in shambles. As engrossed as academics can get they'd surely notice things like mold.

[ ...At least she hopes so. With the pillows fluffed and still keeping a watchful eye on Alphinaud she embarks on her next task: getting the pillow cases onto them. ]

Then again, I can't say that I ever spent much time in the dormitories. I was more apt to run off to see grandfather and Urianger after class.

[ Though her tone is light and though she doesn't care about it anywhere near as much as she had in the past, the clear distinction between their time at the Studium couldn't have been more obvious. ]

[ Ah. Yes. Mentions of both their grandfather, and Urianger call to mind how little Alphinaud saw Alisaie after class. Not that he considered it for more than it took to be re-engrossed in whatever debate he was having about Eorzean foreign policy, and the after-effects of the Calamity, but he did notice.

He shakes his head with a huff of laughter, setting one corner of the sheet to the bare mattress and then moving on to the next from the same side. A keen eye with experience in setting beds up would notice how little give Alphinaud is providing so that one tug, and the bottom side of the sheet would pop right up.

He may be an expert in gathering firewood and setting up camp in the middle of the woods with no pillows and only a scratchy blanket to offer comfort, but doing up a bed with a full sheet set is a new one. ]

I would hardly say it was even near shambles. 'Well-loved', perhaps, and equally well maintained. Not a speck of mold to be found, I assure you.

[ Studium students might often be teased for being so singularly focused on their studies that all else is thrown right out the window, including and especially their form of sustenance ... but mold? Oh, no. There would be a huge scandal if such things were discovered.

He also imagines that their parents would pull them right out of the school all together if evidence of anything below their level of comfort were to surface. ]

Nevertheless, after our stay in the motel for nearly a year, I've set my expectations here accordingly.

[ So. Low. Very low. ]

[ If anyone had asked her during those strange, awkward years that they spent at the Studium, Alisaie might have said that her brother could have care less about where she was or who she spent her time with. And though she would not trade the time she had with her grandfather and Urianger for anything, it was also undeniably the shakiest that she had ever felt their relationship to be.

All the more reason to cherish moments like this now. Even if said moments is watching the edge of the sheet that Alphinaud had just tugged down slooooowly creep its way back up. It takes all of her power to keep a straight face.

Both pillows are swiftly cased in record time, leaving her the opportunity to take a bit of a rest and watch Alphinaud's own task. ]

We're lucky the mold issue in the motel was as short-lived as it was. Hopefully we don't run into a similar issue here.

[ In many ways, it was the most practical decision—they have all found that their motel room had become part storage and part pit-stop most of the time, meaning that while space was a premium, there were many more domestic parts of rental that were going unused. The dormitory rooms may be smaller in comparison, but the facilities that come along with them are certainly more suited to their lifestyle.

Besides, the proximity to all that research and knowledge is terribly tantalizing.

But more than that, G'raha is glad that they are all still going to be sticking together. Young as they are, they would be well-within their rights to branch out and he would not stop them, but he takes no small amount of solace in knowing that they trust, if not like him enough, to hang around a while longer. They are his charges, if chosen, to G'raha.

And he really does just like having the twins around. Getting to know them even more than he had gotten to previously.

Alphinaud is right, of coures—G'raha is easily distracted by the promise of new information and has thusly been engrossed for most of the day. It's only after realizing the time that he finally pulls himself away from his studies and realizes he should do something a little more proactive. (Though that doesn't mean he isn't borrowing a few books, thank you.)

He figures he can drop these off and then try to surprise the twins with some of that wonderfully greasy friend chicken they have become so fond of, even if it means going back into the Blocks— ]

—Oh!

[ But, apparently, they have beat him back to the dorm. Back "home". He blinks. ]

Twelve, I spent much longer than intended, but—

[ G'raha cants his head to the side, using his crystalized arm to hold the books to his chest. ]

Are you...doing laundry?

[ The sound of G'raha's voice interrupts whatever thought Alphinaud has next, short-circuiting it entirely, and also causing the young elezen teen to yelp in surprise.

It's not exactly graceful.

The corner of the bedsheet he'd been fiddling with gives up at around the same time that Alphinaud brings his hands up, and then he shakes his head and quickly composes himself. It was probably a lost cause anyway, and he knows Alisaie has been watching for it. ]

G'raha! I — we hadn't expected you back so soon.

[ Laundry? What laundry. He quickly shifts over to stand before the bag of soft sheets and gathered pillows. ]

Have you been through all of the reading material I recommended already?

[ G'raha's sudden appearance shouldn't be as much of a surprise considering they had been expecting him at any moment - but it's still a surprise all the same. Mostly because Alisaie hadn't been expecting the yelp from her brother which then naturally causes her to startle a little in turn.

Startle - and then laugh as soon as she watches Alphinaud's efforts unravel a little in the process.

To her credit she does try to wrangle her laughter back into place long enough that she can pick up where her brother left off with that train of thought. Both, pointedly do not address his laundry question. ]

Yes - that was a lot faster than we anticipated! There's no rush you know. We did just arrive at the Sanctum and I doubt they will be quick to chase us out again.

closed — long live the fast times

— estinien

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

making shit up

we roll with it baby!!!

— alphinaud & g'raha

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject