IC CONTACT FOR HUGS

[iustaegis]

IC CONTACT

[ Text ♢ Video ♢ Voice ♢ Action ]

[ Pyra ♢ Mythra ♢ Pneuma

[ new post here.]

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[iustaegis]

Ab-so-lutely. [ A proud hair toss. ] I get to sleep as much as I want while you losers talk.

[ She doesn't sleep all the time, but. It's literally the only other thing she can do while in a world away from her own. ]

[carbungle]

Aw, man... that's so unfair.

[...He's... super jealous, actually... though technically it's what he'll be doing in the Crystal back home for ten years. Maybe it's just how life in a crystal is supposed to be. This place at least has more going for it. ...Hm.]

Are there animals here?

[iustaegis]

[ That's right. He likes animals.

As for Mythra, she looks up. ]

If you'd like there to be, then sure.

[carbungle]

[Huh... it's like that, then?]

I just figured if there were animals, there might be fish.

[A selfish thought, unquestionably. But at the same time, it's something new to do if one ever happened to be bored in paradise.]

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ She seems surprised at the suggestion. ]

...Fish?

[iustaegis]

...You know I could just make up the biggest fish to catch to out-do your record.

[carbungle]

What, is that a challenge?

[A new fish to catch? Hell to the yeah.]

I don't see anyone stopping you.

[iustaegis]

You bet it is.

[ She nods at him. ]

It'll be so big, that.... [ Looking around, she spots a tree lining a street. Enthusiastically, she points. ] --there! It'll be as tall as that! You haven't caught anything that big yet, huh?

[carbungle]

Uh...

[He follows her gaze, eyes widening.]

Definitely not. Hope you've got super-strong fishing line around here.

[iustaegis]

[ Hah. ] Don't worry, it'll be a catch.

[ But she's not looking to get into a pun-off again, so: ]

Would you like to help with the haul?

[carbungle]

Hell yeah I would. You think I'd just sit back and watch?

[This is fishing we're talking about. He'll never just be a bystander!]

[iustaegis]

[ This is just what she wanted to hear!

Laughing, ]

I hope one of those 13 royal arms is a harpoon.

[carbungle]

It's not a harpoon, but there's a trident... [He tilts his head then, confused.] Wait, do weapons work here?

[iustaegis]

[ She, too, tilts her head. ] Isn't your power attached to your soul...?

[ And his soul is here-- so.

She thinks it would work. Yes?? ]

[carbungle]

...Huh... worth a shot, then.

[He holds a hand out, focusing- and is surprised when immediately a silver trident with a winged motif on the handle manifests in his hand. Clearly he thought it would take more time and effort than that, but it didn't require any more focus than usual.]

Whoa!

[iustaegis]

[ She seems surprised, too, but for an entirely different reason. It looks remarkably like-- ] Hold on, isn't that Lun--

[ Mythra stops herself, clearing her throat. That. That's definitely one of the do-not-bring-up-with-Noctis subjects, among many others.

Fumbling, ] Er.

I mean, that's a cool weapon.

[carbungle]

[His breath does catch as she says the name. There's no denying it, or the way his heartbeat picks up, both in the dream and in reality.

But... life goes on, and he's getting a little better, so he releases the trident and calls it back, pulling it in and out of the Armiger a few times and swinging it away from her experimentally to see if it has any ill effects.]

It's called the Trident of the Oracle, yeah. It's more her family's than mine, but one of the old kings became his era's Oracle when she died and her successor wasn't old enough, so... it became a Royal Arm, too.

[iustaegis]

[ She watches at he practices wielding the trident. Gently, ] Your family has deep ties to the Oracle.

[ Aera and Ardyn, this nameless king and the Oracle at the time, Noctis and Luna. ]

You still want to use that for fishing?

[carbungle]

[Quietly he inhales, exhales. Holds the trident in his hand for a long moment, studying it carefully. He then lets it go, flexing his fingers. No pain... maybe there's no cost to using it here, where it doesn't matter. This really is a dream...

That means the rules are different.]

She's... she was the kindest person I ever knew. I think she'd like it, if it could be used to make people smile.

[To make him smile. She'd truly wanted him to be happy, even in small ways, and it showed in everything she did for him. He can try to honour that, still.]

[iustaegis]

[ That's exactly what Mythra would have said. ]

Including you.

[ He's still working on it. But if he's feeling ready to add a new, positive meaning to it, she'll do her best to facilitate, supporting him as she can. ] I think Pyra's told you already, you got a special one. [ Luna probably thought the same. ]

[carbungle]

So I keep hearing.

[The smile that he offers to her is small, but it's there. He gets it.]

You've got a good smile too, you know? Both of you.

[iustaegis]

[ ...This is the first time he's said this.

Thus, there is a pause before she replies, reflecting. ]

Guess that means we've found a good reason to smile.

[ Many good reasons. Pyra's smiled many times with him and others before. The first two months of being here, very few were genuine or without melancholy. Torn from the safety of a sunken tomb, fear and sorrow had been the predominant emotion. That fear... has lessened since then considerably, or it's been pushed further back from being at the forefront of her mind, with no small thanks in part due to him. ] It's bee easier to, too.

[carbungle]

Yeah?

[It's... kind of warm, to hear it from her. Feels a bit different than with Pyra, but there's a familiarity to it even so. Like he might over time be able to see more of an overlap between them, like the "you" might become collective as "we" already is for them.]

Glad to hear it. You deserve it, so... keep it up.

[iustaegis]

[ They definitely don't deserve it, but they won't be countering him here. Breezily, ] Hah, thanks. I'll keep that in mind to practice smiling every day.

[carbungle]

So, I should expect a significant improvement the next time I come back?

[...Which is... more or less a proper acknowledgement that he will. Like with Carbuncle, the inclination is there.]