Clive as Dion's shield.

[ifrittheoutlaw]

Dates

860- phoenix gate

Clive is 15

Terence/Joshua/Dion are 10

865- Anabella marries Sylvestre 

Clive is 20

Terence/Joshua/Dion are 15 (Joshua is awake! :D) 

 

Clive waking up dirty and worn out in the imperial convoy. He heard his mother saying to kill him then reconsidering to put him in the army instead. 

He gets branded which is painful and it's the most emotion he's shown since Joshua died. He is listless and depressed. He hears the soldiers talk about his mother, about his father's death. About the second eikon of fire. 

He goes through the motions at first but he gets pushed harder and harder to show his mettle or be cut down and he wants to kill Joshua's killer so he fights. He wins in training matches and destroys expectations. They have little choice but to put him in charge of the prince. He was by far the best and his radiance had demanded the top soldier be in charge of guarding his son. 

Clive remembers Dion and Terence though he's distant from them. He's worlds away all the time though he's an excellent soldier. It inspires Dion to become that skilled so he (and later Terence, ) practice harder. They get Clive to work with them on drills. [[ This right after Phoenix Gate. Terence is not yet Dion's squire]]

Clive does tend to Dion fairly well. He isn't his brotherly soft self but he keeps Dion fed and watered, makes sure he takes breaks, he'll listen any time the prince talks but he doesn't really talk about himself. Dion can sense there's an ocean of things Clive is holding in. Anabella is proclaiming both her sons are dead, Dion doesn't have answers, Clive won't talk about it but he looks so damaged. Anabella seems perky in comparison. 

Anytime they're in the palace Clive wears a helmet with his armor both to hide his brand, the nobles would hate to be in the same room as an unsightly branded, and to hide his face from his mother. He doesn't want to be sent away from Dion and he expects if his mom knew he was this close she'd have him killed. It's in realizing these feelings that Clive knows he cares about Dion and he starts to get out of his own head. He sees that Dion has a criminal lack of love. Sees that his mother and Sylvestre are cut from the same cloth. 

He is a big brother type, he has his old habits with Joshua that he misses. That part of his heart hasn't gotten enough exercise lately. So while it hurts bc it feels like he's moving on from Joshua, he decides to be the best he can for Dion. For Dion's sake and his own.

 

He reads with Dion a lot, tries to bring up fiction stories as a break from the text books and dry histories. He loves myths and legends and he gets excited when Dion hasn't read his favorite. Clive gets a copy and they work through the book in the evenings, Dion has never seen Clive this animated and it reminds him a little of the boy he met at the remembrance ceremony. He wants to see this side of Clive more. 

Joshua's birthday comes. Clive gets really distant and quiet the week prior and Dion doesn't understand why. The day of, Clive does his duties but slips away during a break and Dion follows him. Clive goes out into a field alone to sob and Dion is shocked to hear it when he approaches. Clive is saying he's sorry, saying he'll avenge him, he says Joshua's name. Dion can't do anything other than try to comfort him. It says everything that Clive allows him to. 

Later, at court, Dion witnesses Anabella making a big scene of mourning her poor Joshua and how it's his birthday and she just can't be happy today. She's got a circle of nobles giving her pity points and consoling her. She's eating up the attention. He might even catch her smiling for a brief second. She has dry eyes. 

Every year on that day, Clive goes to do a little ritual for Joshua and every year he cries, he can't help it. Dion (and Terence?) start to come with him each year. 

Clive opens up gradually and starts to do what he did with Joshua. He finds places outside the palace and sneaks Dion out to experience things he finds important but the palace wouldn't allow. 

-Going to taverns to eat delicious 'commoner food' they'd never find in the palace

-street food in general

-sneaking to go see a showing of the saint and the sectary

-racing chocobos between Oriflamme and Northreach

-honestly helping Dion improve his chocobo riding in general

-being attentive to the moods of his eikon as he was with Joshua

-swimming in the sea or the lake past Northreach

-swiping extra snacks during a gala and coming to eat with Dion on his balcony, sitting on the railing looking at the mother crystal at night. 

-discussing the ideas Dion is getting from Harpocrates. 

-he does something fun for Dion's birthday each year. It's small bc he's a slave but he'll get him a book or manage to suggest to higher ups to have an event Dion likes. He'll bring him his fave food etc. 

As Anabella gets closer to Sylvestre, Clive makes a point to keep Dion away from the palace when he's able to give him breaks. He doesn't trust his mother. He doesn't trust Dion's father but he'll never say that to the prince. 

They cross the affectionate physical touch barrier when Clive ruffles Dion's hair. He catches himself. Maybe Clive accidentally calls him Joshua and he flinches. 

Clive takes Dion out to play in the snow and they're having fun and he accidentally calls Dion Joshua. It's their first winter together so the grief is still fresh. Clive ends up emotional and has to take a moment. 

Point is, Dion has seen Clive break down over his brother multiple times. He knows Clive adored him and he feels on the outside looking in, he wishes he had that kind of love from his family. More like he wishes he had that kind of love returned from his father. 

One time Dion dares to hug Clive. Maybe it's Joshua's birthday or it's coming up and Clive is getting sad. Clive hugs him back, gets down on his knee, says he's always here for Dion. So long as he is able, he's glad to be here with Dion. Dion says they have each other. 

Or Dion is having a really low day and feeling defeated bc Sylvestre. Clive is the one to initiate a hug. He says Dion has him. That he loves him. 

Some Danger happens and Dion needs Rescuing. Clive is leaping into action. He kicks ass and looks awesome doing it but what gets Dion is Clive's face. It's similar to the face he makes when it comes to Joshua. After the danger is over and when they're alone Clive hugs him. It's tight, it's a family's embrace. Dion hugs him back just as tight, allows himself to think of Clive as his brother. 

They are really close after that. Clive looks after Dion, not just his safety but his mental and emotional health. 

Sylvestre and Anabella marry. It's a hard day for Dion and Clive who talk about it and have hard feelings about how ugly this is but they can't prove it or even if they could what power do they have? 

Dion joins the Dragoons and while Clive never does he sticks around their camp bc Dion. The other Dragoons heckle him but he can beat many of them in a fight. After a while of ignoring their jokes he finally agrees to spar with them, maybe at Dion's or Terence's suggestion. He makes a clean sweep of several soldiers in one on one matches. They expected him to be soft but he makes it almost to the top of the leaderboard. He learns a lot with them and while he'll never be one of them they respect him. 

Dion takes a hit for Terence at age 18 and Clive is furious. Not at either of them but he's scared of losing Dion. It freaked him out. He sticks around as much as Dion will allow while he's recovering. He's aware he and Terence are a thing now so tries to give them space.

Five years later, Clive gets sent away to this high-skill mission along with this group called the bastards. Saves Jill after murdering the rest of the bastards. He can't go back to Oriflamme. Not just bc they would kill Jill but bc they'd kill him too. He goes with Cid and regrets that Dion probably thinks he's either dead or ran off and that it looks like he never cared about him. 

He sends a stolas about what happened, that he can't come back but he loves him still.

 

Destroying Sanbreque's mother crystal is a tad emotional for him. 
[[or do they both fight Cid at the mother crystal when he sneaks in?? Does Clive have a chance to become ifrit in order to protect Dion??]]

Going to Twinside and seeing Bahamut fighting the Phoenix is very emotional. Dion doesn't recognize Clive as Ifrit and he can't reach him anyway.