IC CONTACT FOR HUGS

[iustaegis]

IC CONTACT

[ Text ♢ Video ♢ Voice ♢ Action ]

[ Pyra ♢ Mythra ♢ Pneuma

[ new post here.]

Comments

[carbungle]

[Sign up... the Crownsguard offices? Gods, it's been years since he's been down there. Not that it actually matters here.]

Proclamation #3: no unnecessary paperwork when the king decides he's too lazy to sign something. Consider yourself hired.

[iustaegis]

[ She giggles again, cheering at the fake hiring, as well as his proclamation. ] Crownsguard Pyra, reporting for duty. [ Have a casual salute. ]

Ooh, ooh! May I make a suggestion?

[carbungle]

Permission to speak freely, uh- ...whatever the junior rank is for Crownsguard.

[He makes a note to ask Cor later. He's committing fully to the bit, here.]

[iustaegis]

[ Does this mean she must be at ease or at attention?? She doesn't know, so she places a hand upon her hip. Totally a soldier, this one. ]

Can the next proclamation be about having cake after every victory? King's choice of kind, of course.

[carbungle]

Hmm... I like that one, tempting. Maybe if it's optional. I can think of a few people who'd revolt if it was enforced.

[Prompto's always fussing about his weight and diet even though he's a perpetual string bean (though his concerns are understandable enough). Even as a joke, maybe that one's a little too insensitive.]

And I like just about all cakes, so the type doesn't matter so much. ...Except carrot cake is banned.

[iustaegis]

Eh...? Why not carrot cake?

[ Isn't it a cake, too?? She's only asking because she's curious. ]

[carbungle]

I hate carrots.

[That is literally the only reason.]

[iustaegis]

[ Duly noted. ]

As your junior Crownsguard, I pledge to never serve-- [ "My king"? "My liege"? What fits here? ]-- my pajama-wearing king carrots.

[ Keep a serious face, keep a serious face, hoooolddd it-- ]

[carbungle]

[Oh, bless. He can't hold it at all.]

Keep that up and you'll be promoted in no time.

[iustaegis]

From... from pajama-shorts to a [ Pffft-- ] pajama onesie, mm?

[ Yet soon as his expression breaks into a smile, she cannot hold it any longer, either. Bursting into laughter again, she has to take a few moments to regain her composure. ]

[carbungle]

[Okay, okay, okay. Even he can't fight a chuckle at that one. The mental image is too absurd- especially when it comes hand in hand with the thought of the Crownsguard he knows wearing onesies while fighting daemons.]

We might have to rename the Crown City at this rate, with everyone sleeping and wearing PJs.

[iustaegis]

[ Right. Because it's named Insomnia. She gets it! ] What about... Sleepytown, capital of Lucis.

[carbungle]

I don't know, that doesn't sound fancy enough. Lucians can get weird if you don't respect the old tongue.

[AKA needs more fantasy Latin.]

Hypersomnia?

[iustaegis]

[ She nods in agreement. ] Your land is one of many traditions, I've noticed. [ She's assuming that Insomnia was named for Somnus in some way; might as well keep that "somn" part in it somehow, even if this is all play-pretend. ]

But this PJ tradition can be started with you, and I [ A total outsider. ] like it!

[carbungle]

You're not wrong there.

[Some traditions are better than others; a name would be a small concession for all of the silly proclamations being made in this fantasy reality they're crafting. Plus it sounds cool. His city should be cool.

He holds his hand out to her, fingers clenched into a fist. Bump! And when he speaks, his voice is a bit melodramatic and formal, playfully so.]

Let it be decreed, by order of the king.

[iustaegis]

[ With a fond look in her eyes, she raises her hand to bump her fist against his, letting her touch linger... enough that she brings her hand to place it over his, breaking the little character charade they've been playing up until this point.

More than one hundred kings of Lucis have come and gone before him, and this one has such a wonderful smile. He's not untouchable, he's there with everyone in the moment.

He does not know it, but inscribed upon her very core is a psalm: iustorum autem semita quasi lux splendens..., the path of the righteous is that of the dawn. ]

....You know, Noct. [ She says softly, as if confessing something. ] Even without being a crownsguard... I want to protect you.

[carbungle]

[He glances back at her, really looking this time, his head tilted curiously at her words. Protect... there it is again, that idle thought he's been considering. Not so she can protect him, because it's hardly necessary here, but... because the idea of sharing isn't as frightening as it might have been months before, when the betrayal of the Kingsglaive was still so close to his heart, an open wound and the source of his grief. When he'd closed ranks and shared his strength only with the men closest to him.

He wants to start trusting people again, to not let what happened at home ruin it for him or anyone else who might benefit. For his own sake, but also...

With a thoughtful expression, Noctis turns his hand in hers to clasp it, more of a pledge than a handshake or hold, and he smiles again, soft and cautious.]

I want us to protect each other.

[iustaegis]

[ For the few tender moments when his hand comes to clasp over hers, her attention falls to their touch. When he speaks, she lifts her head.

To protect each other...?

She wants to. She wants a lot of things. But that is the purpose of her wording: she wants to, but she will not use her own power. What a hypocrite she is, declaring something like that to him but knowing she will not lend her full aide when the situation calls for it.

She smiles anyway, her voice light. ] ...In King's Knight, I'll be able to. [ Surely that's what he means? ]

[carbungle]

[There's that thoughtful look again, and he purses his lips, looking down at their joined hands. So often when they do this, it's followed by a calling of magic, a combination of power. She's fueled his magic over the course of an entire night, replenishing his stuttered supply and keeping him from Statis, like a steady drip-feed of elixir straight into his veins. He'd never felt a bottom in that wellspring of power. You have so much, she'd said, but hers felt neverending to an even greater degree than his. Yet somehow she always seems... impressed by him. And he doesn't get any sense of mockery or condescension from her, it's just how she is.

He doesn't get it. And she's so secretive, so he wouldn't, but...]

Hey, Pyra... maybe I never thought to ask this before, but what does your magic do? Like, what's it for?

[He's only ever seen her charging up other people, more of a conduit of energy than he'd said of himself.]

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ So suddenly does he inquire, that he catches her off guard. She repeats his question partway, absent minded. ] What is...

[iustaegis]

[ Then, she giggles softly again as if to recover for her surprise, giving her time to think of an answer. When she draws a breath, she looks at him. He really has to ask after everything they've done? They've trained every practically every week together. Certainly that's enough proof for an answer: ]

Support.

[ She smiles. ]

My power... supports your power. [ A pause, and then a look. ] Or... it's supposed to. Does it not...?

[carbungle]

No- I mean, it does! I just didn't know if that's what it was meant for. If that's the only thing, or...

[wait.]

Not that that's not enough! That's plenty. It's so much.

[Too much? Gods. He presses his palm against his face.]

...I'm just gonna stop there.

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ --Good, she thinks to herself. The question of does it not had been meant in an attempt to divert him. She knows it supports. She knows what her power does.

.... ]

[iustaegis]

Mm... [ Sweetly: ] Noct?

[carbungle]

[Here we go.]

Yeah?