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DID YOU KNOW that chocobos often eat other chocobos in a show of dominance?

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[....????

Who???]

The red ones?

You mean the red ones, right?

I think you mean the red ones.

It's always the red ones.

DID YOU KNOW that red chocobos can, in fact, be tamed with the right food?

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Is...

Is that food *other red Chocobos?*

[Who even is this? Does she care? Apparently not for the moment.]

[ after this series of poor choices ]

[ Ezar wakes up in Piñara's guest room, not nearly as hungover as he ought to be, all things considered. He's more concerned that he doesn't quite remember where he is, how he got here, whose apartment this might be... or where his pants have gotten to. Though really, the weirdest part of the scenario is that he's woken up alone. So he probably didn't manage to have maximum fun the previous night.

His hair is also, to his immense despair, a tangled mess. As he leaves the room, squinting against the light that seems far too bright and clad only in a rumpled shirt and his smallclothes, he's trying to unravel his braid and finger-comb his hair, while also keeping an eye out for his wayward trousers. ]

[There's the distinct smell of coffee brewing and warm pastries as Ezar walks out from the guestroom and into the corridor of Pinya's Farmhouse. It's easy to see her from the bannisters that look out onto the open plan kitchen, though the layout of the room looks far more like a tavern than anything else.

The woman herself is leaning most of herself on the bar, trying to keep herself awake and failing quite miserably. She's nursing a mug of the brew and there's a plate of croissants in front of her, one half eaten on her own plate as she stares out of the window.

There's glasses and tankards and empty bottles strewn around the place that she swears she'll clean up soon. Probably. Proof of just how much they consumed last night.

Ezar's trousers are folded very poorly on top of one of the sofa chairs, next to anything else he might have decided to discard during the night.

Pinya's ears twitch as she hears the creaking floorboards and looks up to his position owlishly, before a laugh escape her lips at the sight of him.]

Twelve above, Ezar. Come down here and get a coffee, I'll grab a comb and sort that for you.

[ Well, he does recognize Piñara even though it's been a minute since he saw her sober. And in a weird way, it's a relief, because there's no chance he slept with her while he was drunk and can't remember it. ]

Oy.

[ That's his version of 'hello but I am hungover and groggy.' ]

How'd I end up here?

[ Squint. He makes a beeline for the coffee, though. ]

That smells like heaven.

[ As does the offer to help with his hair, actually. As weird as it is, the thought of someone else messing with it. That feels like too much to deal with himself, right now. ]

[She pushes his mug to him while he takes a seat at the bar, gingerly getting off her own stool and going to root around in one of the sicker baskets she has tucked into the side tables.]

Sugar and milk are just to the left- and- ah ha!

[She pulls out a varnished wooden comb with large teeth as well as a paddle brush with many spokes.

She shoves one brush under her arm and holds the comb between her lips as she climbs back up the stool and stands, placing both tools on the bar and spinning her finger at Ezar for him to turn.]

Well, it went much the same way as most benders do. You were drunk, I offered more Booze, we drank a lot and almost drowned in the pond, and now you're here!

[ He waves the sugar and milk off with one hand, then pours himself a cup, somehow managing not to spill. Coffee secured, he complies with turning around. ]

Ah, if there was a pond, explains what happened to my trousers.

[ The coffee is so hot it burns his tongue, and he drinks it anyway. ]

Pretty tame night for you, aye?

[The woman nods and laughs, running her fingers through Ezar's hair from his scalp to the tips, getting out the loosest of knots with her gentle hands before picking up the wide tooth comb and working through it.]

Yep. You decided that you wanted to have a dip with all the chickens as witnesses. You didn't much appreciate the feel of the weeds at the bottom, though.

[She brushes through Ezar's hair, methodically erasing every knot and neatening the locks before she starts to braid them again. She reaches over to the counter again to pick up a hair tie and for a small vial of oil. The faint scent of honey escapes as she opens the bottle and tips a couple of drops into her palms, rubbing them together before carding them through the Miqo'te's hair.]

Indeed! I didn't cause any international emergencies, so I'll really have to try harder next time. Honestly, I don't think Nanamo has quite forgiven me for the last drunken heist I pulled in Ul'Dah.

[The woman sniggers to herself as she parts the hair and starts to braid.]

[ Despite all his intentions, only a few brushstrokes in, Ezar's visibly relaxing, head bowing as he cradles his coffee mug in his hands. It might feel very weird to have his hair down around someone else, but that is far outweighed by how nice it feels to have someone else brushing it. ]

You know the Sultana? [ He laughs softly. ] 'course you do.

[ Never stops being weird, being the only ordinary guy surrounded by... a lot of not ordinary people. ]

What were you stealin'?

[She hums in the affirmatve when he asks.]

Aye, she's much like a younger sister to me, now. We knew each other before my whole Warrior Of Light-ness, the hazards of being a Syndicate brat in Ul'Dah before the Calamity, I suppose; but we got much closer after... well.

[She doesn't want to really re-live Nanamo's poisoning, so she deliberately skips that over in her mind. She focuses instead on making sure that Ezar's hair behave as she twists and turns it.]

I think at the time, cured meats? I was terribly hungry after all the wine, you see~

Sultana like a sister to ya... [ He can't even imagine such a thing. It feels very strange to be having someone that above him in the social strata brushing his hair and talking to him like it doesn't matter, at that. He's only vaguely aware of the Syndicate and its workings; Ul'dah's a place he's only been a time or two, and not for long.

There's a whole story in that well. But he's also got enough of a read on Pinya to know if it was a story she wanted to tell, she would have actually told it just then. ]

Been a lot of bad stuff that's happened, I s'pose. Tends to bring people together.

[ Ultimately, it's just a guess. He's remembers hearing about some unrest in Ul'dah at some point or another, but it had been manifestly not his problem. On the other hand, it's never a bad guess, considering just how tumultuous the last few years have been. ]

Hah. Now that's a reasonable thing to steal. And not so closely guarded either, I'd wager.

[Pinya giggles, knowing that it's passing strange for someone to say that about the Ruler of a City state, yet-]

Nanamo has a lot of responsibility and pressure on her shoulders. Sometimes people around her forget that she's a living, breathing person who needs to not be Very Important for a few hours. I'm just glad that I still get to take her out for tea every now and again when we can both sneak away from our people at the same time.

[She always left Papashan a note about where she was planning on taking his Ward, but sneaking out in the first place was part of the fun!

She reaches for the hair tie and for another bite of her pastry, wiping the crumbs off on her side before securing Ezar's hair.]

It was very much unguarded at the time, and really they were just asking for a bit of theiving to happen.

There! All done, my love!

[ He cannot imagine calling the Sultana by her first name, anymore than he could imagine calling the Admiral by her first name. But, he reminds himself, Pinya's not a regular person. The Warrior of Light is also quite important, even if all the ones here like to act as if they're not. ]

Sounds like a relaxin' thing to do.

[ Trying to square those facts in his mind with Pinya braiding his hair is giving him a severe brain cramp.

He offers her a quick, if uncertain smile. ]

Thanks. Gently done.

[ And this is the part where he's run out of conversation because he's never been good at talking. He does his best to disguise this with another long drink of coffee. ]

I'll finish this up and get out of your hair.

Everyone needs a break from the madness in their lives, no matter how simple or haughty they might seem on the surface!

[She sits back down on her stool again and lets out a yawn that seems to take over her whole body before she slouches back down, her head resting on Ezar's arm. She lets out a little chuckle.]

I had a lot of practice with my younger siblings. Rorora was always very picky about how mother was 'too rough' with her hair, so I took over at some point.

[She too reaches for her coffee and takes a big sip, a pleased hum as the sugar and cream hit her tongue.]

Oh? You don't have to, if you've nowhere else to be. Your company has been very pleasant!

Ha. Little sisters are all like that, mayhap.

[ He'd taken over a similar role for his youngest sister, for similar reasons. Nitarish would have liked Pinya, he thinks.

He is faintly surprised that his company's judged as pleasant. That's a new one. Rather than checking his tomestone, he squints at the nearest window, roughly estimating the time from the quality of the sunlight. ]

Got a bit afore I have to be to work.

Two parts kvass and one part vodka, with a bit of cinnamon syrup and perhaps some vanilla to taste.

I don't believe you were in any state to remember that when you left, but 'twas that last one I shared with you. It seemed as if you enjoyed it, at any rate.

Kvass, Kvass - The Barley malt? I've had something similar before, but the one we had last night tasted so much... brighter?

Vodka I have, I'll have to get started on the malt though! And I'll have to make sure that I've got enough of the syrups too <3

[She's already making a list of the things that she'll need to grow or purchase. She might even wrangle Gaius's emerald powers to help the crops grow faster! Pinya feels like he's the kind of man that would appreciate the taste of something more when he's one of the people that helped to create it.]

It did taste very good, though. I can imagine it was a great drink to have while on the road. Was this a traditional recipe or somewhat a family recipe for you?

If you do need help with acquiring anything be sure to let me know, since it is mostly selfishness on my end to be introducing you to these drinks in the first place.

But I am glad you enjoyed it. The drink itself is a fairly traditional one that hasn't changed much over the years, but the vanilla is a family quirk to let it go down a bit easier... My mother had a fondness for sweet drinks, you see, and I assumed you might as well.

Nonsense, I'm enjoying being able to learn about you and Garlemald's culture!

I've been lucky enough that through my family's trade routes that I've been able to experience some few things from Ilsabard, but that was before the Calamity and before we had to run barebones just so that we could keep everyone afloat.

I'm glad that it's traditional. Though I fear you're already well aware, the way to my heart is through my stomach. I learn much from the tastes and the foods of a culture. It helps me remember that even my foes are people, have lives and culture of their own that deserve to perservere.

[ Eddie is maybe a little more comfortable using the phone like an actual phone, so he opts for leaving a voice message in lieu of texting: ]

Heyyyy just figured I'd check in and see if you've made progress on the guitar? It's cool if you haven't, but I figured it's been a couple of days and

Yea I just wanted to check before just dropping by. You know, in case it wasn't finished yet? Anyway, I guess I'll wait to hear from you, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it came out!

Oh, shit, I forgot, this is Eddie, by the way. Not sure if you can tell since we only did the texting thing so far? But yeah, can't wait!

[Pinya is in her workshop when her tomestone goes off, so she is coming back into her living area when she receives the message. She listens excitedly when she hears it and almost runs back to her workbench to take a picture and sends it to Eddie along with a message of her own.]

Hi Eddie!

As promised, she's ready and waiting for you! I was about to let you know but you beat me to the punch. She needs strings and tuning but you're more than welcome to come and do that over here?

[ If Eddie does a little bit of an excited and victorious jig at the sight of the guitar, well it's just a shame nobody's around to witness it. ]

Oh wow, that looks

that's incredible. You made that? You're so talented, oh fuck.

I'd love to, if she's ready for all of that.

[She grins though the little blush as she receives the praise. She's no master carpenter, but her knowledge of alchemy and botany helped a lot to help her shape the wood, and if she used a little Manna to do so, then no one needs to know.]

She's all ready for you hun! Here, let me send you my address.

You like coffee? I can get a pot going while you come over!

[You guessed it, it's Starlight time, GET A BOX. A handknitted hat! It's... something all right! And a note to follow:]

Please wear this without warning while you're seeing Haurchefant. That's all I ask.

- Obsidian

Oh. Oh Yes.

I will do this.

Thank you for this most entertaining gift! Is it better that I simply do not acknoeledge its presence?

[Sometime midday on Starlight, a delivery mammet in the form of Wind-Up Thancred arrives, bearing atop his head a long thin box that, upon opened, reveals an assortment of hand-painted truffles, along with a note: ]

Put in your mouth, not in the science wiggler. Merry Starlight, Pinya.

[ On the solstice, with no note or indication of who it came from, a box of sugar cookies decorated to look like butterfly wings... and a box of very alcoholic rum balls. ]

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text. | UN: daddywolf (on the subject of trying to teach Pinya about Garlean alcohol huehue)

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