#mathilda - notorious for repressing her misery and fear in front of people - displaying it either in front of g'raha or with regards to him

[zahra-hydris]

5, 16, 8 and 21 for G'raha and Mathilda? (I love them a great deal <3)

thank you so much ily 💖 so happy to ramble about my mutually pining idiots (and i’m overjoyed that someone else loves them too 💕)

romance asks here

5. How do they comfort each other when they are sad?

both will physically be there for the other, soothing with words and touch. maty makes dumb jokes to try to make raha laugh. raha, in contrast, will seek to talk about and resolve issues.

16. Jealous at all?

a little, but neither acts on it. both are guilty of thinking themselves not good enough for the other, and so are sensitive to seeing others flirt with or show interest in their beloved. thinking about aymeric kissing mathilda's hand when they have their inevitable trip to ishgard while raha pretends he's not immediately jumping to conclusions and there's certainly no lump in his throat no...

8. What are their most prominent memories of each other?

oh there are so many: their first meeting, their time together running around the crystal tower (raha telling eager maty the history; maty recounting her experiences clearing the tower out), sitting in kholusia talking before mt gulg, the painful joy of seeing each other in amaurot (raha seeing that she came for him, maty seeing him alive and still fighting), "tis good to see you awake, g'raha tia" (ALL OF THE CALLBACKS SINCE; this + their first meeting is canonly a prominent memory for both lmao), running through the tower together again but more desperately, and many others since then.

but the one I think both treasure is the moment mathilda wakes raha in the crystal tower with his soul crystal. he wakes to see her standing over him, terrified and shaky. he expresses happy surprise that it worked. she manages to blubber "of course it did!" before she just bursts into tears and pulls him into a tight hug. and she cries and holds him for a long time, getting all of that stress and fear and suffering out while he holds her just as tightly (and cries with her). it's a moment of vulnerability for both, and they feel so safe and connected in each other's arms that the feeling has always lingered.

(that moment was promptly ruined a few minutes later by alisaie who definitely could not sit still in the rising stones while her two faves were elsewhere)

21. Personally, do you think they are a good couple?

yes! they complete each other in key ways: maty is the adventurous and reckless spirit that raha was rarely able to let loose when younger, while raha is the scholar mathilda wishes she could have been, not just in his education but his patience, dedication, and stability (mathilda watching the exarch very calmly and articulately tell ran'jit to go fuck himself: OH MY GODDDDDDDDS). there are occasionally some clashes in these areas (see: raha scolding maty for her poorly timed jokes as in 6.1) but otherwise, they push each other in ways that they want to be pushed.

but they also share a fierce love of learning and exploration, a curiosity that cannot be sated, a passion to make the world better, and an uncanny capacity to inspire and lead (that neither of them recognise in themselves, but admire greatly in the other).

perhaps most importantly, both demonstrate to the other their value. maty fears being lost under the mantle and that she's not the hero everyone thinks she is, but raha does see her under the 'warrior of light' label ("share your burden with me" 😭) and loves all of it. meanwhile, raha does not think of himself as a hero, but mathilda sees - and loudly proclaims - him as a greater hero than she is. they see each other!!

they just need to finally do something about it and make out already

#ty I love talking about maty and raha so much #mathilda - notorious for repressing her misery and fear in front of people - displaying it either in front of g'raha or with regards to him #makes me feral #the fact that raha is not only inspired by mathilda's achievements as wol but also the things that make her HER #her love of adventure - her curiosity - her passion - her joy #MAKES ME FERAL #*lies down* #mathilda fairclough #x: to the ends of the world and beyond #imma gonna get to the next one soon promise!