Coronation

[featheredflames]

It is all far too much attention for Joshua's liking.

He knew this was how it would be, that there would be a certain amount of fussing the be expected...but this was beyond the scope of acceptable fussing surely. So much unnecessary commotion over a fitting of ceremonial robes that he wouldn't wear more than a handful of times at that... Would it not be better to spend time focusing on the clothing he would be draped in when he finally dawned his father's mantle? The day-to-day wear that he would need to sport as Archduke of Rosaria.

That would come later, in time, he had been reassured. This outfit would get at least a few days of wear out of it. The ceremony was to last more than a singular evening, festivities dragging on for nearly a week after the event of the coronation itself. Already Joshua feels weary at the thought. Fancy suppers and meeting with dignitaries were in his future but right now his present reality was a miserable one. Fabric is cinched around his waist as measurements are taken and pins are adjusted. He feels like a doll as he's fitted, made to stand for bells on end. Founder he could only hope that some semblance of reprieve would find him soon, hopefully before his knees gave out...

Swallowing he stares out the window, doing his best not to move as the tailors do their work as quickly as they can. It would be unfair if he told them to stop - they were only doing as they had been instructed to, to rework and refit the robes his father wore on his crowning day. Joshua cannot help but think they don't suit him - Clive would wear (and fit!) them far better than he. Yet it was tradition...and while he may be able to escape the tailors ere long, there was no escaping protocol and the duty that loomed over him.

Comments

[flamebrand]

Free to love, and free to express it (in the secluded safety of this room, that is). All his life, Clive has been stifled by the weight of his duty and half-hung on the noose of his purpose; he doesn't take this current freedom for granted. It's the sort of permission he's never had, an invitation to be wholly himself.

So, yes. He will lay it on a bit thick, all things considered. Maybe in a year's time when everything feels less new (debatable if that'll ever happen), he'll be able to temper himself a bit better. For now, though, he coaxes Joshua with warm hands and soft kisses, savoring the flush on his brother's skin.

"If it embarrasses you, I'll keep my mooning to myself."

[featheredflames]

"It's all right... I will allow it."

Just for Clive, though. Anything for Clive. If his brother wants to count the ways he loves him, then so be it. It may cause his cheeks to flare hot but to deny his brother the joy of expressing himself when he was so reserved otherwise?

Joshua could never bring himself to do that.

"If you wish to adore me, who am I to tell you to stop?"

[flamebrand]

A light, buoyant laugh, and: "you're more than allowed to say no to me, you know."

Says the man who can refuse his brother nothing. A hypocrite through and through, but only in matters related to his brother: 'practice what you preach' falls to the wayside when Clive is speaking to the biggest exception to every single one of his rules.

He lets his fingers quest for a few more beats, confident in his understanding of Joshua's comfort before they slowly, carefully draw out.

"It won't stop me from adoring you, but I can be less vocal about it."

[featheredflames]

"No, I rather you not silence yourself."

He sighs once Clive's fingers are free of him, still incredibly pliant as he rests against his chest. If his brother does not move him, he sees no reason to himself. He would much rather lie here and enjoy his comforting warmth for as long as he can.

"Be yourself around me, Clive. That is all I ask for."

Even if it means he may end up embarrassed by it sometimes.

[flamebrand]

"Myself," he echoes. He lets Joshua settle against his chest like an oversized cat, not minding the deadweight at all. Surreptitiously, he wipes his oil-slick hand against the sheets to clean them before starting to draw soothing circles along the small of Joshua's back, letting his fingers travel up and down his brother's spine on occasion. Again, like soothing a well-behaved feline.

"You're the only one who sees so much of me." A pleased murmur. "The only one who cares to look."

[featheredflames]

Clive is warm and Joshua cannot help but enjoy the comfort he derives from resting against him. There is nowhere else he would feel more safe and that is something he would never trade for anything. Clive strokes over his back and all he can do is hum with delight. Indulgent, truly, all of this is, but why not be?

"How could I ever turn my eyes away from you, Clive?"

[flamebrand]

A rhetorical question, Clive knows. He smiles about it, though he can think of many reasons for Joshua to potentially turn away－ then again, he supposes that most of them are moot. There's very little about him that Joshua doesn't already know about, or hasn't experienced firsthand.

(Ifrit, mostly. The horror that the Eikon inspires, and the aftermath of its rampaging.)

Fingers tangle in the longer strands of hair behind Joshua's neck. It's growing out; Clive wonders if Joshua means to wear it long.

"You seemed plenty capable of it when Ambrosia was present."

Teasing. He's not actually jealous of his precious chocobo; he just wants to hear his brother call him ridiculous. It's an easy, affectionate rhythm that he can settle into with no one but Joshua.

[featheredflames]

"You are ridiculous, do you know that?"

A predictable response, but it wouldn't be right it if weren't. Clive knows him better than he knows himself at times, and the familiar back and forth is ever so easy of a pattern to find solace in. He hums as he's pet, as thick fingers run through the strands of hair at the nape of his neck. He feels more dog than bird right now, but those are details he need not voice at the moment.

"One must never ignore nor leave a lady waiting, you know that."

[flamebrand]

If not for their general state of undress and the sweat-slick stickiness of their bodies, Clive might mistake this moment as something from their childhood. Joshua tucked against his chest, content to give Clive his weight as Clive shared stories of the things outside of the four walls of his brother's bedroom. Things that happened out on the castle grounds, a new book that their father had brought for Clive to read.

It strikes Clive, how happy he is in this moment. Happy to have Joshua, happy to be accepted by him, happy to be speaking so plainly. Happy to be known, despite the taboo of it all. He should feel worse about it, but he doesn't. Can't.

"She's far more patient with you than she is with me." He laughs, and rests back against his pillows. "Birds of a feather, I suppose."

Not the biRD PUNS!!!!

[featheredflames]

Haha, very funny brother. Joshua snorts as his reply, unable to keep a smile off his lips. Clive's laughter was the sweetest of sounds, a rare one that was usually reserved for him, he's noticed. It makes it all the more cherished, as something Joshua feels he ought to covet.

"Mayhap she will teach me how to build a nest." Wouldn't that be a funny notion? "I could make one right here. Would you help me Clive? Pick out the finest branches and straw for me?"

If he wants to tease that he's a bird, Joshua might as well lean into it.

[flamebrand]

Branches. Clive's brows shoot up, skeptical and amused at the same time.

"Nothing so uncomfortable for my brother, I should think. Blankets and cushions seem a better alternative."

Not that Joshua needs coddling－ he's no longer the small little boy who coughed when the air grew chillier in the evenings－ but still. Without treating him like something fragile liable to fracture at any moment, Clive would still prefer him comfortable and safe in his hypothetical nest.

"Would my songbird like a nest?"

[featheredflames]

"Well if I am to be your wedded mate, I think I deserve one."

Their conversation has skewed into absurdity, but it is fun all the same. Joshua amused himself with fingers in Clive's hair, fussing with strands that had been once tamed but now messed by their passionate tryst.

"Would you build me one, brother?"

[flamebrand]

Clive's hair is a lost cause; it will perpetually remain shaggy unless someone forces product into it, which is likely to happen on the night of Joshua's coronation. A short-lived tidiness, given what they've already promised will happen after the ceremony is done.

Meanwhile, Clive bumps against Joshua's palm like a hound leaning into a particularly beloved hand. Warm as he is, he likes his brother's brand of heat as well: softer, gentler. Ifrit consumes, but the Phoenix sustains.

"I'll fill it with your favorite things." Which is a yes, silly as it is to be talking about making a human-sized nest. Joshua never got to dabble in frivolity, so they might as well do so now. "And it'll be the place we both retire to for the night."

[featheredflames]

Joshua likes his brother shaggy. While it had been some years now since Clive had his hair clipped and neat, it's far more fun to mess like this, to tease with fingers and watch move when the wind catches it from time to time. The way Clive leans into his hand reminds him of Torgal and it draws out a laugh from the soon-to-be archduke. He scritches behind his ear, just for good measure.

"My favourite things?" He leans in, conspiring. "So long as I've you in the middle of my nest I will be content."

[flamebrand]

It won't be long before Clive's presence will be requested not only on the battlefield, but in situations that will require him to keep appearances for his brother's sake. Up until now, Joshua has been confined to the relative safety of Rosalith Castle, but diplomatic missions will soon take him out of their familiar four walls and to Sanbreque, Dhalmekia, the Crystalline Dominion― and his First Shield will have to remain vigilant by his side, the sword and shield to bolster Rosaria's Phoenix.

Which is all to say: Clive will have to trim his hair a bit. And maybe shave, when the time comes. He sets that thought aside as he sweeps his grown-out bangs aside and gathers Joshua into a more comfortable position, tucking him more firmly under rumpled covers to keep their body heat trapped around them.

"...You flatter." A full-bodied warming, at the suggestion that he's Joshua's favorite. He could pinch himself, it all feels so surreal. "And you could stand to be more selfish. You'll always have me."

[featheredflames]

It would be strange to think he's anything but Joshua's favourite. Who else or what else could ever begin to even remotely be more important to him than Clive? Not even the throne could come between him and his love for his brother...but that did not mean duty wouldn't take him away temporarily.

It's something Joshua has refused to think about, even if he knows it's a reality he will face soon after his coronation. For duty's sake Clive will be sent off to protect him and Rosaria's interests, albeit temporarily. If only it weren't necessary...

"If I were to be more selfish...you would never leave my side - I would forbid it."

[flamebrand]

'Forbid it'. It's a childish thing to say, reminiscent of how Joshua used to wind small fingers in his nightshirt and demand that Clive stay. The sort of harmless selfishness that he never had and never will have the heart to refuse.

Still, they're the both of them grown men now, and Joshua has a duchy to rule. Clive cuddles Joshua to himself, understanding the roles they have to play, but wanting to reassure his brother regardless.

"I'll only ever leave your side to see to it that you're protected." Keeping Rosaria safe from intruders ensures Joshua's safety; as much as Clive swears to uphold the peace of the nation, his loyalty is to Joshua and Joshua above all. "No matter where I am, I'll be thinking of you. Everything I do, I do for you."

[featheredflames]

It is a comfort to be held against Clive's chest, to be cradled and loved in a way no one else dared to. Not even their mother had cuddled him in the same way - her affection had been transactional, after all. But that hadn't mattered when Clive made up for it tenfold.

"And I will be thinking of you...every moment you are away from me. I will never stop."

[flamebrand]

"Never is a strong word."

As if Clive wouldn't also promise the same: his frequent use of superlatives when it comes to Joshua is only slightly lost on him. Because it's a fact that he lives for Joshua, that he still breathes because of Joshua, that the world feels bright to him because of Joshua.

Dipping down, he presses a kiss to Joshua's brow.

"Knowing that you're thinking of me will motivate me to return as quickly as I'm able."

[featheredflames]

Perhaps it is a strong word, but that does not mean Joshua does not speak true when using it. Clive would promise the same and if there is one thing that has been proven time and again it is that they are both fixated on the other. Is it healthy? That would be left for others to debate.

"Please do not keep me waiting long...I do not know how patient I can be."

[flamebrand]

A little pang, when Joshua says please. It's ever been Clive's biggest weakness to hear his brother plead with him for anything, and doubly so when it has to do with matters of staying or leaving. It'd torn Clive in two as a child when he'd been bidden by Anabella to leave Joshua well enough alone, and the sentiment has persisted even after he's grown enough to understand the necessity of it.

His palm smooths over his brother's cheek, affectionate. No need to dampen the mood by dwelling on future absences; for now, he can let their conversation meander along gentler routes.

"Ah. What would my songbird be driven to do in his impatience?"

[featheredflames]

"Fret and flap about, mayhaps pluck my feathers. Cease to sing at all..." He leans into the touch, delighted by it but also left greedy and wanting for further affection.

"I would want to fly to you." It wouldn't be the smartest of moves, but it is the truth. "I would resist doing so...but it would be hard to stop myself from spreading my wings to join you."

[flamebrand]

He's the one that asked, but to think of his brother slowly being drained of joy is unpleasant enough that Clive's all-too-familiar protectiveness kicks in. His touch warms, the gentle stroking shifting to a firmer cupping, his palm holding and keeping Joshua's jaw in place with more purpose.

"...Your men would be bolstered by your presence. But I'd rather you waited here for me."

A light kiss, to the corner of Joshua's mouth. Reassuring.

"The Phoenix would be wasted on our enemies. My wife needn't trouble himself."

Ifrit doesn't exact the cost that Joshua's Eikon does― or, at least, it hasn't so far. The same threat of lithification has never been pressing for Clive, whose body seems to resist― or attune to― the aether Ifrit dispels and expends without issue. A convenience that he uses to his advantage, given how afraid Clive is of Joshua coming to harm.

[featheredflames]

His cheeks flame with the word, gaze averted as he lets Clive cradle his face. It's all too sweet, too tender and loving that Joshua can feel his heart race at the thought. Wife is such a potent label in this very moment that he cannot help but want it to be true. If only it could be...

"You won't keep me waiting long...will you?"

Surely no longer than a week, mayhap two at most...but Joshua cannot get his hopes up.

[flamebrand]

It's sweet, how openly his brother responds to the word wife. If it pleases him to hear it, Clive will say it as many times as Joshua would like until the concept takes hold: they may never be wed in any official capacity, but Clive has belonged to Joshua since birth. That must count for something.

"I'll do my utmost to return to you quickly."

With a hint of apology, given that he can make no promises when it comes to matters of war. The length of his sorties will depend entirely on how stubborn their enemies decide to be, and though he has the clear advantage of Ifrit on his side, sometimes intimidation isn't enough.

Still. Better for the hellbeast to be hated, and for the firebird to be loved. He presses another kiss to Joshua's mouth, not letting up on the affection one bit.

"It's difficult to bear the thought of you being bereft."