Open Post / Overflow / Voicetesting

[flamesofperdition]

- Flexible on canon point - Will warn for spoilers - Can avoid spoilers for those who prefer that - Open to canon, cross-canon, and AU alike

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TFLN - for empyreancatastrophe

[flamesofperdition]

(—from here!)

[Joshua sees a side to his brother that so few others do. He sees the man when he is most stripped bare. He sees the man who is, undoubtedly, twisted and turbulent by the way life has gripped a hold on him. With his younger brother, Clive oft feels like a different man entirely. Perhaps to be expected when matters of the heart are so invested. He might even say the feelings there burn with the same intensity as the Phoenix.

It isn't hard to imagine where Joshua's thoughts might take him when Clive merely makes mention of older days. He finds himself there frequently enough when the opportunity allows for it, careful not to drown as much nowadays as once he has. They ought to take every moment they have, for who knows how many more they will get.

Clive has a definitive understanding on how finite things can truly be and how easily they can slip through his fingers.]

Honeybush. [It's simple, but the logic behind it is very Joshua. Clive can't help smiling to himself. Easily enough, whatever makes his brother happy, makes him happy as well.] I can agree to that. I will make for certain that we have more than enough to suit our needs.

thanks for moving the thread!

[empyreancatastrophe]

[Joshua can always count on Clive to go above and beyond what is necessary just to ensure their mutual well-being. He could remind him that 'just enough' sometimes is more than enough. That to treat a task as minor, at least on the veneer, as acquiring tea as one that must be completed to Clive's utmost ability wherein nothing less is acceptable, is a mindset that will cause harm in the long run--much as his insistence to carry not just his own burdens, but the burdens of all those around him.]

[Joshua could remind him of that.]

[He should.]

[But... he understands. He understands that need to do more, to push oneself harder, to ensure that one's regret will never be "I did not do enough".]

[Or perhaps all of his thoughts are highly focused projection onto a simple statement from his brother.]

[Regardless, while he managed to scold Clive for doing too much a few messages ago, he refrains now. This is something special. Something they can share. Something that Joshua will not rebuff with chiding, not when the gesture is one he knows comes from a place of love only his brother can possess.]

I will do what I can to help find a source.

However, I must needs ask for one promise from you.

No worries!

[flamesofperdition]

[They could go together. Clive would like that, though the turning of the world, how it shapes and evolves through the actions that Clive has taken directly, he concerns more that he would only put Joshua in the line of danger. One cannot act as a particularly good shield if they are responsible for the harm of the one they are shielding.

But to treat Joshua as though he were incapable would be as unfair. He's certainly proven himself more than enough by this point. He isn't the same young boy.]

For you, anything.

[Heavy words accompanied by equally heavy sentiment. Even after a moment's consideration, Clive finds his resolve strengthened. He can't imagine there being anything he wouldn't do.]

[empyreancatastrophe]

Promise me that no matter how much tea we manage to procure, we save enough to share a drink after our mission is over.

[He knows full well that nobody can guarantee that either or both of them will be around to have some tea together, but he can't help but want to provide that glimmer of hope--and that motivation for Clive, at least, to pull through. If anyone deserves to rest easy in a happy life, it's him.]

[flamesofperdition]

[A promise seems so easy to make, though Clive occasionally wonders if he can keep such weighted things. What if he were to somehow fail to live up to one? What if he were to disappoint another? Hadn't he already thought he failed his own flesh and blood?

Perhaps sharing cups of tea will be an easier thing than to be the shield. Not that he's ever backed down from a challenge. He doesn't intend to start now.]

I can do that. It's the least I could do. Tea, when this is all over. We'll deserve something to take the edge off.

[empyreancatastrophe]

Then it is decided. We celebrate victory together with tea over swill.

[The smile spreading across Joshua's face, lost in thoughts of a happy future with his brother and the comrades they hold dear, holds as he entertains the imagery.]

[If his brother promises it, then he truly believes it possible.]

I trust you, Clive. We can do it.

[flamesofperdition]

[Does he truly believe they will be victorious? He'd like to think so. They've come too far now to give up. There can be no surrender. Clive has to see every last bit of this through, regardless of where it may take him. He has his own uncertainties, locked beneath the calm and sometimes quieter composure he holds together just barely by the grace of all who have helped him get to this point.

Things are so different now. He is so different now. And in some ways, so very much the same.]

Truer words couldn't be spoken. We'll see it done. It's a road that I can't travel without you. I thought once, it was meant to be that way. But I think we both need to see it.

[empyreancatastrophe]

I agree. No matter what happens, we will see it through together.

[Even if Joshua knows he can’t guarantee that their mutual trust will ultimately bear success, he’s missed Clive far too much over the years to so much as consider leaving his brother’s side. Of course, there’s the higher priority of mankind’s overall fate, their role in it, and how it looks like it is only through the strength of their bond and the bonds they’ve formed with their friends and comrades that they can even hope to yank it all back from the brink of destruction. Joshua fully understands that familial sentiment falls to the wayside when it comes to the benefit of protecting Valisthea’s future.]

[However, for as long as he draws breath, he will fight to remain at Clive’s side.]

But first, shall we procure some water for you? To rid yourself of the taste of regret?

[…just as he’ll fight to take care of his brother in every way possible.]

[flamesofperdition]

[If he could have it his way, he'd almost prefer not letting Joshua get involved at all. That feels like a luxury he won't be able to afford. When he was younger, that would have been easier. Now, his brother has become wilful. A blessing and a curse to protect someone who is stalwart in just such a way.

But perhaps Clive's desire to guard him is a little more selfish. A desire to feel needed. Self-punishment? Restricting himself to something he feels he's only barely deserving of? He could get lost in that.]

Concerned I'm unable to get water for myself now? I won't have you needlessly worrying over me.

[empyreancatastrophe]

Must needs it be worry that drives me to help my brother?

[Stubborn as Joshua has grown to be, he's had a fine role model to guide him. Part of what made, makes, him idolize Clive so much is how ready the elder Rosfield is to stand by his beliefs and dig in his heels when the time comes for it.]

[Joshua finds it difficult to be as brazen as Clive. Ever since he was a child, he lacked that special kind of mettle, but he's apt enough with words to express his tenacity another way.]

It's only water. Allow me this chance to take care of you, as you have always done for me.