IC CONTACT FOR HUGS

[iustaegis]

IC CONTACT

[ Text ♢ Video ♢ Voice ♢ Action ]

[ Pyra ♢ Mythra ♢ Pneuma

[ new post here.]

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[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.]

[iustaegis]

[ She makes a face, cringing as if she's just been handed a chore. It's for fun though. ] Mmm, exactly what would you consider significant improvement?

[carbungle]

Don't know. I'll have to wait and see how it goes.

[Who is he to judge the quality of a person's smile? Really, what he'd like is if his presence here can get her to smile more, not better.

...But she doesn't have to know that part.]

[iustaegis]

[ "--wait and see how it goes--" ]

Noctis, come over here. [ She waves, nonchalant. ] I think I smell something.

[carbungle]

What's that?

[He sniffs the air as he heads closer, trying to figure out what this is all about.]

[iustaegis]

[ Mytrha dips her head forward, lowering her voice.

She smells.... ]

Bullshit.

[carbungle]

Wh- hey!

[That's very immature, Mythra. He tries to look offended, but it only comes across halfway with him also fighting back a smile. Dammit.]

[iustaegis]

[ She straightens, placing a hand upon her hips as she gives a proud smile.

In the midst of soft laughter she manages to speak: ]

You-- you even sniffed the air!

[carbungle]

Well- what else was I supposed to think, with you saying that? I don't know anything about this place, maybe random smells do crop up.

[He huffs and turns away, arms crossing. So affronted. ...Except that it is a nice smile, so... she's got that going for her.]

[iustaegis]

[ While her laughter dies down, her smile remains. ] You... almost had me believing you, too.

Because, you know, you're the type to make things up as they go.

[carbungle]

...So I'm predictable in my unpredictability?

[Is this really the kind of reputation he's been cultivating...]

[iustaegis]

I think there's a saying for it-- you never stop surprising.

[ Yep, that's his image. ]