Saide

WIP

some notes:

» personality:
• he's always maintained a steadfast sort of silence. he only really pipes up when he's spoken to first or, more commonly, to clear things up for a newcomer immediately after his husband bombards them with very excited and very quickly spoken words that they most likely weren't able to understand the first time around

• if he does speak first, it's usually to cuss to himself under his breath for one reason or another.
at the start of their relationship, Renji was clueless as to what he was saying and was just enamored with how pretty he sounded when he was saying it. Saide repeatedly insisted this was not the case, yet somehow, he was never listened to

• he's honest when he's asked for advice or opinions. he's polite and never speaks with the intention to enrage or upset, but refuses to mince his words to downplay a situation. his response will solely be his true opinion on the matter, often truly wanting to help whoever he's speaking to; if the situation is dire, he'll convey that much to them. if it isn't, he'll talk them down from thinking it is.
when he responds to you, keep his words close to your heart; you may never encounter someone as honest as he again.

• Saide is happy just where he is. he doesn't want to be rich, doesn't want to live in the city or have servants do his work for him. he has his husband, their children, and a flourishing farm that he's worked his entire life on, and that's all he treasures in life.

» relationships:
• he's incredibly proud of Elora for marrying well and living the life she's wanted ever since she was a little hatchling, and it's for that reason that he actively tries to stay out of her life.
of course he'll always be there if she needs him— she's his baby, that's a given. but being a farmer isn't exactly a prestigious job, and he's very familiar with the awkward smiles he tends to get when he runs into town for a quick shopping trip.
in Light society, one's class is often immediately evident just by the way they're dressed, and he's never strayed from comfortable, sturdy, and practical clothing; the absence of jewelry and other dainty or flashy apparel instantly gives away his class to those around him, and he's very used to being pitied for it.

it doesn't bother him; it's always been like this and he knows they truly don't mean to be condescending.. regardless of how they may come off. but who's to say it doesn't hurt Elora? Lightweaver forbid the fathers-in-law of the prestigious Professor Yuma make an embarrassment out of themselves or their daughter; who knows how deeply it could wound their reputations.

Elora is well-off now through her husband's profession, and that's good. she has disposable income now, a big house, and even enough money to hire workers! not only has she moved up through society, but her children are being raised to aim high, too! what more could a father want for his family?

for a woman married to a Professor, having farmers as parents is.. well, shameful. it's no wonder that a farmer's daughter would want to leave that lifestyle behind as soon as possible.
her son Akira has a very promising future as a Doctor lined up for himself, too, and hopefully the memory of being related to farmers can dissipate within his generation or the next at the very latest. Saide refuses to jeopardize their success and happiness just because he misses them.

• he's on good terms with a strange Plague immigrant whose name he believes is "Kai". they met when the latter stumbled onto his farm by accident and Saide, upon realizing just how skinny this boy was, quickly saw him as a non-threat and promptly started miming to communicate due to their language barrier making communication impossible otherwise.
- he was beyond proud of himself when he successfully managed to invite him over and get some food into him: an entire plate of honey-glazed salmon, the fish having been recently caught by his husband.
ever since then, he's been regularly inviting "Kai" over for more meals in hopes that he can feed him enough to keep him at a healthier weight.

he's very fond of the boy, actually. he looks and acts extremely young, even younger than his own grandchildren; the first thing he noticed about him was how he'd flare his wings out a bit when he was hungry or miming about food, which is the exact behavior he saw in his own children when they were asking for food when they were very young. the boy can't be older than 100 (even that's pushing it) and he's honestly concerned over how and why he's alone in a foreign land, unable to speak Common Draconic, and dangerously thin to boot.

he plans on handling it himself, though; he's gradually been teaching him bits and pieces of Common Draconic and the equivalent words in Light's native tongue, and with Elora acting as a translator, Saide has personally started learning Plague's native language so he can communicate with the boy easier. on top of that, he's taught him how to do light farm work with him, if not just to tire him out a bit so he has an excuse to cook more food for him.

he's deliberately not reporting the boy's concerning state to any governmental agency. given his odd and disorganized behavior, he has a feeling that he may be avoiding national officials on purpose.
far be it for him to press about that; if he sees a hungry child, he's gonna nurture and feed that child. that's all there is to it.

• for what it's worth, he's trying very hard to only refer to him as "Kai" or "the boy" and not "my son". he already treats him the same way he treats his own children and he would adopt that boy in a heartbeat if he ever asked. he thinks he's hiding it well!
but not too well, because he does want him to know he'd be there for him if he ever needed him.
but well enough not to scare him off, y'know?

» history:

» familiar information:
• like many other things in life, Saide had to be bothered into accepting help in the form of a familiar.

all his life, he managed his farm just fine alone. any little odd sound would immediately wake him up and lead him out to investigate before he consciously realized what he was doing; in his waking life, he'd confront any animal that threatened his livelihood on his own and crafted a great many weapons and traps to use against them. he was managing just fine.

it wasn't until he had his first hatchling that he felt the protection for his farm was a bit.. inadequate.

sure, he and Renji could defend themselves, but what about their baby? they were too little to protect themselves, too little to know any better. what if, Lightweaver forbid, any animals stalking his farm were to go after his baby instead?

as luck would have it, one of his friends— the same one who was always trying to talk him into getting a pet for home protection— was rearing a litter from his own familiar and was more than happy to give Saide a puppy.

it was difficult to raise a hatchling and a puppy simultaneously (he should've prepared better, he realizes now), but he and Renji nonetheless managed. [...]

» misc.:
• he and Renji always, always sleep together. the last time he had slept near someone else was when he was still young with his parents, so at the start of their relationship, he wondered if he'd ever be able to adjust to the change and pondered over the possibility of him ultimately needing them to sleep separately, but the very opposite ended up happening; being held and cuddled as he fell asleep filled a void he didn't know he had, and now he can't fall asleep without the warmth of Renji next to him, hearing his steady breathing and often near incomprehensible murmurs about whatever came to mind as he was falling asleep.
after one agonizing night spent tossing and turning as he waited for Renji to get home from fishing, he made a rule that his husband must settle in for the night first every night so nothing like that ever happens again.

• during the winter months, he wears his Champion's Pelt that he fashioned from a Burrow Bear that he helped kill.

• he also has a Brown Wolf Cape that he made from a wolf he killed, though he only wears it when it's unusually cold for the season. he makes sure not to wear it out when visual conditions are poor, though, just in case.
he feels pretty cool in it, though

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I keep imagining him with an apron like this & this that he wears almost everywhere.
the model is wearing a pinafore dress, not an apron, but you get the vision

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hatched at 5:22 AM!
applied Capsule, Chrysocolla, and Myrid at 5:33 AM 3/7/24
scrolled into a Skydancer at 5:36 AM 3/7/24
gave pose change scroll at 2:58 PM on 3/13/24