#lil more context bc i cannot stop myself and clearly dont understand formatting

[crowdsourcedloner]

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI?

13. How do they react at being away from each other?

26. How important is the romance in your OC’s overall story?

these are going under a cut for length, but thank you!!!

2. What was the first moment that they knew they were in love with their LI?

There were a lot of little moments for Nailah, but if one had to be chosen as the moment... it'd be the one they shared before scaling Mount Gulg. She pieced together who the Exarch was shortly before then, and though she still didn't know why he was doing what he was, hearing someone she deeply trusted speak so warmly to her after some of the worst experiences in her life set her heart on fire for him.

It's a similar story for G'raha - several smaller moments rather than one big one - but the through-line of all of those bits was seeing Nailah let down her walls and just be herself. He fell in love with each glimpse of her gentle nature, each quiet chuckle he heard, each shy smile he caught... it was a slow, inevitable love for him.

13. How do they react at being away from each other?

If he's not kept busy, G'raha falls into wistful pining pretty quickly. His thoughts regularly drift to thinking about (or worrying over) Nailah, and he writes letters when his yearning becomes too much to bear. The letters rarely get sent - apparently postmoogles don't accept 'nondescript Eorzean wilderness' as a valid mailing address - so he stores them in Nailah's annex room for her to read when she returns.

While Nailah likes having time for herself, she doesn't like staying away from G'raha for too long - he's one of very few people she's comfortable being herself around, and going back into the public eye alone isn't something she enjoys. Tiring as it is, she retreats to her colder, distant professionalism, fighting off her yearning with her poetry in dark inn rooms or secluded camps while collecting stories and trinkets as gifts for her lover upon her return. The longer she's kept away, the colder she comes across to those around her - though admittedly, it's hard for strangers to notice the difference.

26. How important is the romance in your OC's overall story?

it's important, but it's not the be-all end-all if that makes sense? it's the culmination of lessons she learns through her journeys, but it's not the point of her story. the romance is supposed to represent Nailah finding her own self worth and choosing to pursue something for herself, even if that something is as small as loving someone else. she needs a space to figure herself out and just... be Nailah, and G'raha gives her that and more, while she gives him just as much support and encouragement in his own choices - choices that he also is starting to pursue for himself.

...i think that's as good an explanation as i can give without incoherently rambling tbh.

#answered asks #thank you for the asks!!! im sorry they took so long!!! #oc: hrothwol #ship tag goes here #lil more context bc i cannot stop myself and clearly dont understand formatting #nailah held a candle for g'raha since the very end of the crystal tower raids #but she was in no state to recognize those feelings or do anything about them at the time #(the first spark here was hearing him talk about his dreams with such conviction and warmth - #- she wanted to hear him speak of her like that one day... but didnt understand why) #so she chalked it up to missing someone she was unexpectedly attached to #g'raha was convinced nailah hated him at the start of the ct raids since she kept him at arms length #and she kept wandering off to be alone (her echo was acting up and she needed a lot of breaks) #...it was a whole thing but they eventually talked it out and she started opening up to him #the whole 'century alive with only stories of the Warrior of Light' thing did mess with his memory of her #so there was a little culture shock(?) when he sees her again in shb #(nailah was pretty frustrated during early shb so he got a pretty skewed first impression again lol) #he fell in love with who she actually was over the shb story and as he fully remembered their time together #...holy shit thats a lotta tags... #i appreciate any of y'all that read these #and apologize for exploding your dashes it will happen again ;-;