( no, it is clearly not of wriothesley's own will that he asks for this — and yet, it's his own as well. it's awfully complicated, with his request layered in his own assertion for his own will, that desire to choose for himself despite the circumstances. neuvillette understands him perfectly, letting the implications sink in.
wriothesley chooses him because he wants to, because more than trust, there are the seeds of something deeper that they have never had the chance to explore back in teyvat, when the prophecy loomed above them like a death sentence. no, karteria is where wriothesley first broaches the subject, and neuvillette knows how much it takes out of him to tell him that he craves companionship, that intimacy is on the table, and that any notions of chastity ought to be set aside.
neuvillette, who prides himself on propriety and a certain measure of gallantry, shifts. he is unused to this, unversed in such a situation, but he must do what he can to alleviate wriothesley's worries, to be worthy of the weight of his trust. but more than that... more than trust lies something far deeper and layered, something neuvillette has allowed himself to think about in his most private moments. intimacy with wriothesley, to protect and hold him not out of obligation, but out of affection and desire, of the love that wriothesley has never had even as a child.
he feels his heart skip a beat, his own ache of quiet yearning, yet unshaped but very much present. here, there are no melusines to be their buffer (not that he wants them to, for something as important as this). here, neuvillette has to breach the distance himself.
suddenly, for all of this advance in technology, wriothesley feels so, so very far away. )
I should like to come over now. Will you see me?
( he asks at last, low and soft, his request gentle as the last of the summer wind. the rest of this conversation should be continued in person, and wriothesley should not be the only one making this request, not when neuvillette finds himself eagerly reciprocating. he wants to make him comfortable, to show him that he is not another task to be accomplished: wriothesley deserves the care and closeness he has so rarely been shown, to be eased into it and comforted. love, indeed, should be warm. )
no subject
wriothesley chooses him because he wants to, because more than trust, there are the seeds of something deeper that they have never had the chance to explore back in teyvat, when the prophecy loomed above them like a death sentence. no, karteria is where wriothesley first broaches the subject, and neuvillette knows how much it takes out of him to tell him that he craves companionship, that intimacy is on the table, and that any notions of chastity ought to be set aside.
neuvillette, who prides himself on propriety and a certain measure of gallantry, shifts. he is unused to this, unversed in such a situation, but he must do what he can to alleviate wriothesley's worries, to be worthy of the weight of his trust. but more than that... more than trust lies something far deeper and layered, something neuvillette has allowed himself to think about in his most private moments. intimacy with wriothesley, to protect and hold him not out of obligation, but out of affection and desire, of the love that wriothesley has never had even as a child.
he feels his heart skip a beat, his own ache of quiet yearning, yet unshaped but very much present. here, there are no melusines to be their buffer (not that he wants them to, for something as important as this). here, neuvillette has to breach the distance himself.
suddenly, for all of this advance in technology, wriothesley feels so, so very far away. )
I should like to come over now. Will you see me?
( he asks at last, low and soft, his request gentle as the last of the summer wind. the rest of this conversation should be continued in person, and wriothesley should not be the only one making this request, not when neuvillette finds himself eagerly reciprocating. he wants to make him comfortable, to show him that he is not another task to be accomplished: wriothesley deserves the care and closeness he has so rarely been shown, to be eased into it and comforted. love, indeed, should be warm. )