"S-so, u-um... h-here, Go-nii!"
Gogonji stared down at the small crystal sphere his brother had more or less forced into his hand after a stuttered introduction he only caught snippets of, interrupting his seaside reading at the Mist docks. A linkpearl - the method of access to a linkshell and all other individuals who had similarly tuned pearls. He was not unfamiliar with the technology, having used a lesser known facet of it - the ability to record, as demonstrated in the Garlean propaganda tactics several cycles back - when dealing with that contemptible upstart Rosewater. He had even thought to utilize them in his four-pronged assault on the various Garlean footholds in Eorzea, but had discarded the notion for fear of a pearl falling into the wrong hands and intel being leaked to the undesirables. Conversely, it had meant that he did not know his plan had all but crumbled until Chachanji and his companions confronted him atop the Castrum Centri.
"J-just keep that wit ya, akay?" his younger sibling intoned, fidgeting as if he had some small creature loose in his shirt and causing a small symphony of creaks from the boards beneath his booted feet. The constant motion drew the elder's violet eyes back to his brother, peering over the rim of his glasses at his restless sibling. Chachanji's own purple orbs met briefly with Gogonji's, then were forced away towards the water as he scratched bashfully at that floofy mass of emerald hair. "Th-that way we can... y'know, keep in touch."
He still hadn't quite gotten used to it, even though he had to ultimately come to grips with it in Mor Dhona. The little sprout that would follow him around aimlessly draped in chocobo-themed pajamas and begging for hero stories, now a teenager laden with muscle not unlike their Father. On the cusp of adulthood, and yet still very much the overly-cheery, awkward little boy that Gogonji remembered. He didn't remember the kid being quite so nervous and worried as he seemed to be these suns, but the time apart had changed both of them quite a bit. And yet the sibling bond between them still remained, which the elder brother found rather... comforting.
"I... see..." Gogonji murmured vaguely, setting the pearl on the coaster next to his still-steaming cup of tea. His fingers wrapped neatly around the handle and the older Gegenji brother brought the hot drink to his lips, pausing only briefly to see if his younger sibling had anything further to press upon him before taking a long sip. He had been about to partake of the tea before continuing with his reading, but the hurried entry by little Chachanji had suitably distracted him from that. Still very much like the boy he remembered, bursting in with whatever idea was fresh in his mind. Though, they used to be about hero stories and imagined adventures over much more tangible concerns such as these.
It was easy to read exactly what bothered Chachanji, even without having spent as much time with the boy as Gogonji had. He wanted a method in which to remain in contact with his older sibling, should they be apart again for an undefined length of time - to avoid the cycles of silence and uncertainty wrought from when the elder brother had left home. The idea of being beholden to such a small object sickened Gogonji to some degree - preferring to have complete and utter control over who could speak to him and when, if possible - but he had to admit the merits of the linkpearl. After all, if he and his brother had possessed such ready communication betwixt them, he might have been better informed on the razing of Doma and the wellbeing of his family. While it still might not have prevented his desire to see Garlemald punished for the atrocities they committed against his homeland, he might not have chosen so bloody a path to walk to achieve it.
What was done was done, however, Gogonji mused as his free hand found its way into the fluffy mass of his brother's hair to give it an approving ruffle as he took another sip of tea. The younger gave out a familiar little happy squeak, squeezing one eye shut even as his lips curled up in a little timid smile. Chachanji still fidgeted about beneath his brother's hand, but they were more happy wiggles than nervous twitches - like a pup that was being scratched in just the right spot. It had been a long time since he had done such things, and there was a warm remembrance in the action and its familiar result. Even if that mop of jade now seemed to be sporting a snowy cap of white atop it.
"Thank you, Chan," Gogonji said simply, returning the free hand to rest around the side of his tea cup as his gaze moved back to the linkpearl. "I will... keep it close. I would return... to my reading, now."
He was answered with an eager nod from an eager younger sibling, Chachanji's hands clasped submissively in front of him as he did so. He hesitated but a moment afterward to ensure everything was okay before leaving his older brother to his own devices as he padded his way up towards Mist proper. Gogonji watched him go, his free hand dropping from the side of the teacup to rest atop the closed book in his lap. It was a dusty, aged thing - procured from a merchant in Hawker's Alley in Limsa - that delved into various manners of magical theory. Most notably, the evolution of Arcanima from the Nymian arts, which were believed to come from techniques far older - perhaps from the magical practices of the ancient Allagan themselves.
With the fewer fragments assailing him than when he first overloaded the Rousers - down to six now from the original ten, after his meeting with Rosewater had brought the ancient Sultansworn fragment to his side - the lengthy down-times were spent less on keeping them at bay and more seeking to decipher ways to deal with them. He had learned soon enough that a sort of stimulus was needed to wake them from their mindless fury, to bring them "to the table" so to speak and ready to deal with the dour Lalafell on more civilized terms. Before, he could only hope that something would catch their interest and allow him the reprieve that went along with it. Now, he more actively sought the means to induce such moments of clarity.
The fragment of the Summoner was his current goal, as could easily be guessed by his reading material. Considering the similarity of its magic to arcanima he originally started with and the Scholastic arts he progressed to, it seemed the most logical soul to seek parlay with in his first active attempts to do so. First, however, he had to find a way to rouse it from the whirling chaos of memories and rage that still continued to batter itself against his mental defenses. That required delving into the history of the Summoning arts, in hopes that - if the history itself didn't catch the fragment's attentions - the Doman Lalafell might find something that would garner its interest. So far, the best option seemed to be to find himself a Primal, the ancient enemy of the Allagan Summoners - but Gogonji was neither of mind nor of form to go for that particular route.
And so Gogonji read and mused and theorized. Perhaps just finding someone capable of Summoning might be enough to garner the fragment's attentions - hunting down someone who had bathed enough in Primal aether to form an Egi was likely to be much less dangerous than seeking audience with the Primal itself. He would need to re-establish whatever lines of communication he could after the fall of Khamja, or perhaps find himself some new ones, and see if he could find himself any current practitioners of the ancient Art. In the meantime, perhaps he could speak with that one Hyur woman he had met at the Still Shore - Sasha, if he recalled her name correctly - and see if she might be in possession of some useful reading material on the subject. Even if it wasn't enough to rouse the fragment from its madness, the theories and formulae were inherently interesting in and of themselves - and he wouldn't be overly adverse to being able to converse with someone who had at least a passing knowledge in mathemagical combat theorems, even if her choice of husband was highly questionable.
~