FANFIC: Alliance in Pink
24 July 2023 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyanoscarlet-
Eikonville: an FF16 Modern AU
Alliance in Pink (this one) | The Proposition | Happier Ever After | One-Way Line
-
Clive knew he had much better things to do than this.
No, really, he did. It’s just that his brother rarely told him anything about himself these days that Clive had to take it upon himself to find out if he should have anything to worry about. Because the last time Joshua came home to visit, he brought a girlfriend.
Or at least, that’s what their mother assumed. Wouldn’t let the poor boy get a word in as she lectured him endlessly about not whiling away his college days because life was already hard enough as it was, and his transcript needed to be perfect if he wanted to land a lucrative career. Never mind that her older son already failed her on that aspect—not that she ever had any high expectations of Clive to begin with, but Joshua was different.
Jote was just a friend, Joshua had insisted. Someone he had shared some classes at college with. Nothing more than that. The insistent way he had made his point, however, made Clive all the more suspicious.
Which led to today—Joshua and his “friend” going out early to catch an afternoon movie, and Clive discreetly tailing them. Well, as discreetly as he could, of course, because he didn’t exactly scream discreet, what with his imposing figure and his “prominent pecs,” as Gav called them. He even shaved and bought a new polo shirt for the occasion.
Even Jill thought this was a bad idea, and she was usually supportive of him and his dumb antics. Well, too late for that now.
Clive hid behind one of the electronic displays as he watched Joshua and Jote buy their tickets, following the two with his gaze until they entered their designated theater. “Cinema 1,” he took note as he came out of hiding and lined up at the counter. All he had to do now was get a seat with a good vantage point of the two, and his job was (mostly) done. Joshua said he’d be home by five, after all, which would be around the time the movie ended.
He finally reached the front of the ticket booth. “Let’s see, Cinema 1… Miss, I’d like one ticket to whatever’s playing there, please.”
The girl took one look at him and continued chewing her gum. “You sure, Mister? Wouldn’t expect a hunk like you to watch Barbee, but okay.”
“Barbee?! Wait, I didn’t—”
“Are you buying or not? I don’t got all day, Mister.”
“I—” If this was Clive’s punishment for committing the sin of stalking his own brother (for pure purposes, he swore), then he… had no choice but to accept it willingly. He was already too far in the game to back out, after all. A small part of him wished he had listened to Jill, but there’s no point in regretting that anymore.
But the more important mission of finding out about Joshua and Jote was way more important than his silly pride! Clive’s conscience couldn’t let him watch his brother fall from grace before their mother. (He was overreacting, of course.) A certain manga he had read had the older brother main character do all sorts of shady things just to protect his twin sister, and he was called a siscon for it. Hell if he didn’t understand how that felt now.
To hell with it. Swallow his pride it is, then. “Yes. One ticket to—”
“—Barbee, please. And make that two.”
Clive yelped at the unexpected interruption, instantly turning to the source of the voice. Dion Lesage nodded at him amusedly, then smoothly handed over his card to the ticket girl, who immediately swooned as she swiped it and printed their tickets. “T-Thank you, sirs. Enjoy your show.”
He was still dumbstruck when Dion gently pulled him along away from the booth. What in the Founder’s name was Joshua’s other friend doing here? (He’d also denied any romantic attraction towards Dion exactly the way he did towards Jote now, so maybe Clive was right to be suspicious, after all.)
“I’ve been watching the three of you since half an hour ago, and I must say your tailing skills still leave a lot to be desired,” Dion remarked dryly, handing Clive a pair of thick glasses. “Non-prescription. They’re Terence’s. Don’t break them.”
Clive looked around him, and spied Dion’s boyfriend seated on one of the benches. He looked up from whatever he was reading and waved. Clive sighed. “So I was too conspicuous, huh.”
“Very much so, I’m afraid. Now let’s get popcorn before they close the doors on us. You also owe me dinner after this.”
“I didn’t ask—” Clive started, but was silenced at once by Dion’s withering glare. “Fine. Two buckets of salted caramel popcorn, plus dinner. Sound good?”
“Yes,” Dion finally smirked, satisfied with his win. “In exchange, I’ll teach you how to tail people without getting spotted. You’ll be getting your money’s worth, I assure you.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Clive huffed to himself, shaking his head at the unexpected turn of events. Perhaps this was for the best, though. This… alliance, if he could call it that, certainly had its merits, and he felt he was going to come out of it a better man—probably, if Jill and Gav didn’t find out about today, of course.
(Fin.)
Huge shoutout to the German VAs of Clive (Vincent Fallow) and Dion (Toni Michael Sattler)! I really enjoyed following the Vince'n'Toni streams of FFXVI and the first part of FFXIV!
