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Title: The Rook and the Cat
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV
Characters/pairings: Una'to Viqqoh (OC/Warrior of Light), Male OCs, Female OCs, Grinnaux de Dzemael, Paulecraine de Fanouilley, Alphinaud Leveilleur, Tataru Taru, Haurchefant Greystone, m!WoL/Haurchefant, m!WoL/Grinnaux, m!WoL/Grinnaux/Paulecrain, like pretty much every character that shows up in the Heavensward MSQ
Ratings/warnings: Mature, major character death, minor character death, choose not to warn
Summary: The Count of House Dzemael believing that having the Warrior of Light be within his influence would grant his house more more sway and power in Ishgardian politics plots and plans. After the debacle in Ul'dah, Una'to has had enough of politics and just wants to rest and recover, all while helping those who took him in and find his missing Scion allies. Grinnaux just wants to not have any part of anything.
Notes: Tags are for the fic overall, and this is an AU fic of Final Fantasy XIV, roughly following the Heavensward story onwards, with some changes and a large (and indulgent) dose of my OCs. I started writing this a year and a half ago, so writing may be a bit rough at the start. Also headcanons for days.
Grinnaux flipped over the letter addressed to him, the bullish elezen was clad in little else but loose pants and a towel hanging around his shoulders, having just bathed himself after a day of attending to his duties and training. He frowned when he saw the seal in the was, a Rook the symbol of his family, House Dzemael. It wasn’t unusual for him to receive correspondence from his family, though it was usually little more than an exchange of pleasantries and a summary of any notable events that had occurred and any news either party might have missed. Though it had been a little over two sennights since Grinnaux had last received a letter from his family, letters were usually exchanged every moon or so. With a mental shrug he tore open the letter, caring little about the envelope and never being one to care about or use a letter knife, and also not one have the finesse and skill to be a showoff like Charibert and use fire magic to unseal the wax.
He read through the letter, his eyes widening as he did so, not believing what was written in there. It had to be some kind of joke, some kind of prank sent over to him, and he read through it twice more just in case he had misread it. But he did not misread it, and his uncle does not joke or play pranks. Shock turned to anger and his expression deepened into that of a scowl and he crumpled the letter into a ball, tossing it onto his desk.
What was his uncle thinking? The current Count of House Dzemael knew that Grinnaux had taken oaths to never marry or sire children and to remain celibate (though that last one he and Paulecrain paid little heed to, and he was damn certain that Janlenoux and Adelphel did likewise). So why in the hells was his uncle doing this? Surely there were better people in their family to do this to, was there not? And to an outsider, an unbeliever of all people?
He closed his eyes, attempting to calm down, possibly there was some way he could wriggle out of this, to try and convince his uncle that there were better people in the family to thrust this upon, that they would be the better and more honourable ones to choose from, even if it hurt him to denigrate himself so badly, but he knew he must try, if only to try and get out of doing this.
He barely noticed the footsteps behind him, as Paulecrain crept up to him, and when the white haired elezen placed a hand on his shoulder, Grinnaux couldn’t help but jolting slightly.
“What’s wrong? You’re tensed up in that way when you’re upset or pissed off” the dragoon said.
Grinnaux let out a long, slow sigh. Of course Paulecrain would be able to tell that something was bothering him, yet he was no less grateful for his presence. Slowly, he turned around and leaned back to rest against his desk, motioning to the balled up letter he had tossed onto there.
“Letter from home” Grinnaux replied, trying to keep his tone neutral.
“So? Who died? Or mayhaps Halone herself descended from her Halls to personally bless Archombadin?” he asked, an eyebrow raised and the corner of his mouth tugging into a smirk.
“If only it was just that” Grinnaux replied with a grunt “It appears my uncle wants me to abandon the oaths I swore when I became a Knight of the Heaven's Ward” he explained
“He wants you to abandon the other two?” Paulecrain asked, somewhat amused, though the amusement hid some concern and worry, had the good Count Dzemael finally picked out a bride for the Bull? “I mean face it, we both broke the whole ‘gotta be celibate’ oath the first night we got here”
Grinnaux snorted, he could always rely on Paulecrain to try and cheer him up and make him smile, and his companion did have a point about the two breaking the oath of celibacy on their very first night in the Vault.
“You’ve pretty much got it right” he replied with a sigh. “It appears my uncle has finally found me a worthy spouse, and he is already starting to draft a petition to the Vault and his Eminence to have me released from my duties here”
Paulecrain frowned, worry and concern darkening his features, not liking what he was hearing. He had assumed that after so long that Grinnaux’s uncle had given up trying to find the Bull a bride and simply just let him go. What could possibly have happened to have changed the count’s mind?
“Who’s the unlucky bride to be?” he carefully ventured, his sole eye looking up at Grinnaux. “Anyone we know?”
Grinnaux slowly shook his head, trying to work out how to word the news to Paulecrain. His own uncle had been rather upfront about the fact, though it was typical of his uncle’s upfront and uncaring demeanour towards him. Grinnaux cared about Paulecrain, and didn’t want to hurt the man.
“Not someone we know, no” he finally replied, “an outsider, and more than that, not a she, a he”
Paulecrain’s eye widened in surprise, finding it difficult to comprehend what Grinnaux had said. An outsider would be controversial enough, but another man? He was certain that such unions were heavily frowned upon in Ishgard, especially amongst the highborn.
“You’re joking, right?” he asked in disbelief. “I mean c’mon Grin, this isn’t a joke, and if it is, it’s a swiving cruel one”
“Not joking Paule” Grinnaux replied, “you can read the letter yourself” the axe wielder said, motioning to the letter, Paulecrain quickly grabbing the crunched up letter, smoothing it out and reading through its contents, eyebrows raising as the information sunk in. “Swiving hells” the dragoon murmured. “The Holy See could quite possibly make an exception for this, you know right?”
“I bloody hells hope not” Grinnaux growled. “I don’t give a chocobo’s arse what he’s done and who or what he’s killed. I’m not going to marry him, let someone else do it. I fail to see why my uncle’s making me of all people go through with this marriage”
Paulecrain merely shrugged. “Mayhaps he has realised that you’ll never sire any children anyway and figured that you’d be the best fit to wed him, plus it would mean that there’s no risk of you siring any mongrels with him”
Grinnaux simply sighed, and shook his head. Paulecrain did have a point, though there had to be more to this than that, his uncle always had some ulterior motive for doing anything, he wouldn’t have been chosen for just those reasons either, yet what his uncle was up to was anyone’s guess.
“I don’t like this Paule” he whispered, almost defeated by it.
The dragoon simply said nothing for a moment, before closing the gap between the two and embracing Grinnaux. “I don’t like this either Grin, but trust me, this’ll all work out in the end” he murmured, attempting to reassure the other man. “But I’ve got your back in this, always”
Grinnaux smiled, glad to have Paulecrain by him. Even if he couldn’t worm his way out of this, the dragoon would always remain his steadfast friend, ally and lover, and no arranged marriage with the Warrior of Light, no matter how great his achievements, would ever change that.
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV
Characters/pairings: Una'to Viqqoh (OC/Warrior of Light), Male OCs, Female OCs, Grinnaux de Dzemael, Paulecraine de Fanouilley, Alphinaud Leveilleur, Tataru Taru, Haurchefant Greystone, m!WoL/Haurchefant, m!WoL/Grinnaux, m!WoL/Grinnaux/Paulecrain, like pretty much every character that shows up in the Heavensward MSQ
Ratings/warnings: Mature, major character death, minor character death, choose not to warn
Summary: The Count of House Dzemael believing that having the Warrior of Light be within his influence would grant his house more more sway and power in Ishgardian politics plots and plans. After the debacle in Ul'dah, Una'to has had enough of politics and just wants to rest and recover, all while helping those who took him in and find his missing Scion allies. Grinnaux just wants to not have any part of anything.
Notes: Tags are for the fic overall, and this is an AU fic of Final Fantasy XIV, roughly following the Heavensward story onwards, with some changes and a large (and indulgent) dose of my OCs. I started writing this a year and a half ago, so writing may be a bit rough at the start. Also headcanons for days.
Grinnaux flipped over the letter addressed to him, the bullish elezen was clad in little else but loose pants and a towel hanging around his shoulders, having just bathed himself after a day of attending to his duties and training. He frowned when he saw the seal in the was, a Rook the symbol of his family, House Dzemael. It wasn’t unusual for him to receive correspondence from his family, though it was usually little more than an exchange of pleasantries and a summary of any notable events that had occurred and any news either party might have missed. Though it had been a little over two sennights since Grinnaux had last received a letter from his family, letters were usually exchanged every moon or so. With a mental shrug he tore open the letter, caring little about the envelope and never being one to care about or use a letter knife, and also not one have the finesse and skill to be a showoff like Charibert and use fire magic to unseal the wax.
He read through the letter, his eyes widening as he did so, not believing what was written in there. It had to be some kind of joke, some kind of prank sent over to him, and he read through it twice more just in case he had misread it. But he did not misread it, and his uncle does not joke or play pranks. Shock turned to anger and his expression deepened into that of a scowl and he crumpled the letter into a ball, tossing it onto his desk.
What was his uncle thinking? The current Count of House Dzemael knew that Grinnaux had taken oaths to never marry or sire children and to remain celibate (though that last one he and Paulecrain paid little heed to, and he was damn certain that Janlenoux and Adelphel did likewise). So why in the hells was his uncle doing this? Surely there were better people in their family to do this to, was there not? And to an outsider, an unbeliever of all people?
He closed his eyes, attempting to calm down, possibly there was some way he could wriggle out of this, to try and convince his uncle that there were better people in the family to thrust this upon, that they would be the better and more honourable ones to choose from, even if it hurt him to denigrate himself so badly, but he knew he must try, if only to try and get out of doing this.
He barely noticed the footsteps behind him, as Paulecrain crept up to him, and when the white haired elezen placed a hand on his shoulder, Grinnaux couldn’t help but jolting slightly.
“What’s wrong? You’re tensed up in that way when you’re upset or pissed off” the dragoon said.
Grinnaux let out a long, slow sigh. Of course Paulecrain would be able to tell that something was bothering him, yet he was no less grateful for his presence. Slowly, he turned around and leaned back to rest against his desk, motioning to the balled up letter he had tossed onto there.
“Letter from home” Grinnaux replied, trying to keep his tone neutral.
“So? Who died? Or mayhaps Halone herself descended from her Halls to personally bless Archombadin?” he asked, an eyebrow raised and the corner of his mouth tugging into a smirk.
“If only it was just that” Grinnaux replied with a grunt “It appears my uncle wants me to abandon the oaths I swore when I became a Knight of the Heaven's Ward” he explained
“He wants you to abandon the other two?” Paulecrain asked, somewhat amused, though the amusement hid some concern and worry, had the good Count Dzemael finally picked out a bride for the Bull? “I mean face it, we both broke the whole ‘gotta be celibate’ oath the first night we got here”
Grinnaux snorted, he could always rely on Paulecrain to try and cheer him up and make him smile, and his companion did have a point about the two breaking the oath of celibacy on their very first night in the Vault.
“You’ve pretty much got it right” he replied with a sigh. “It appears my uncle has finally found me a worthy spouse, and he is already starting to draft a petition to the Vault and his Eminence to have me released from my duties here”
Paulecrain frowned, worry and concern darkening his features, not liking what he was hearing. He had assumed that after so long that Grinnaux’s uncle had given up trying to find the Bull a bride and simply just let him go. What could possibly have happened to have changed the count’s mind?
“Who’s the unlucky bride to be?” he carefully ventured, his sole eye looking up at Grinnaux. “Anyone we know?”
Grinnaux slowly shook his head, trying to work out how to word the news to Paulecrain. His own uncle had been rather upfront about the fact, though it was typical of his uncle’s upfront and uncaring demeanour towards him. Grinnaux cared about Paulecrain, and didn’t want to hurt the man.
“Not someone we know, no” he finally replied, “an outsider, and more than that, not a she, a he”
Paulecrain’s eye widened in surprise, finding it difficult to comprehend what Grinnaux had said. An outsider would be controversial enough, but another man? He was certain that such unions were heavily frowned upon in Ishgard, especially amongst the highborn.
“You’re joking, right?” he asked in disbelief. “I mean c’mon Grin, this isn’t a joke, and if it is, it’s a swiving cruel one”
“Not joking Paule” Grinnaux replied, “you can read the letter yourself” the axe wielder said, motioning to the letter, Paulecrain quickly grabbing the crunched up letter, smoothing it out and reading through its contents, eyebrows raising as the information sunk in. “Swiving hells” the dragoon murmured. “The Holy See could quite possibly make an exception for this, you know right?”
“I bloody hells hope not” Grinnaux growled. “I don’t give a chocobo’s arse what he’s done and who or what he’s killed. I’m not going to marry him, let someone else do it. I fail to see why my uncle’s making me of all people go through with this marriage”
Paulecrain merely shrugged. “Mayhaps he has realised that you’ll never sire any children anyway and figured that you’d be the best fit to wed him, plus it would mean that there’s no risk of you siring any mongrels with him”
Grinnaux simply sighed, and shook his head. Paulecrain did have a point, though there had to be more to this than that, his uncle always had some ulterior motive for doing anything, he wouldn’t have been chosen for just those reasons either, yet what his uncle was up to was anyone’s guess.
“I don’t like this Paule” he whispered, almost defeated by it.
The dragoon simply said nothing for a moment, before closing the gap between the two and embracing Grinnaux. “I don’t like this either Grin, but trust me, this’ll all work out in the end” he murmured, attempting to reassure the other man. “But I’ve got your back in this, always”
Grinnaux smiled, glad to have Paulecrain by him. Even if he couldn’t worm his way out of this, the dragoon would always remain his steadfast friend, ally and lover, and no arranged marriage with the Warrior of Light, no matter how great his achievements, would ever change that.
