somnifacient | MENTAL LINK.

(Too pretty to beat up?)

[The rest of Eos sure didn't get the memo on that.]

(Tell that to all the people back on Eos who've tried to beat me up. And all the monsters. And all the daemons.

Glad you could work it out with Nyx, though.)

[ Her mood lightens at this, her aggression curling under the surface; so many muscled appendages flexing in their eager way. ]

( What, you wanna get hit? )

[Instead of figuratively stepping back from that not-quite-threat, Noctis of course just lets an eyebrow raise. It’s playfully conceited and exasperated at the same time.]

(You could try to hit me; you'd just miss.)

[He’d totally phase through it.]

( What's the fun in that. )

[ The whole point is the meat on meat on meat, the rise and fall of breath and stress, until both break. Not significantly different from sex. All about snapping something immaterial. ]

(Are you really looking for another sparring match? Kind of hard to do in these robes we're supposed to be wearing, isn't it?)

[He's been through the training regimens before. He knows all about straining one's body to meet the expectations of someone else trying to pummel you in the face; but Noctis is also inherently lazy, and it's easy enough to avoid pain and punishment when you can just magic your way through it sometimes.]

(Might have to wait until the mission's done. Then I'll let you hit me if you really want to.)

[ She closes her eyes with a sigh. At least her furious fiddling is done with, but now she's just kind of tired and sad instead. ]

( I'm not making any plans for after this mission until we're actually boots down in the Station. )

(I know. I'm not telling you to get ahead of yourself, it's just-)

[It's just what?]

(I'm just here to help if you need it. Or if you need help with anyone else. All right?)

[It should go unsaid, and yet he feels the need to reiterate it regardless. He hates feeling restless, feeling useless. He's spent too much of his life like that already.]

[ Her face wrinkles in a grimace. She wants to slap all that shit away, tired of feeling vulnerable. She had started out well, like she was used to the offers for help, and support, but she's maybe hit her peak agreeability for the day. ]

( Yeah, and what about you? You just gonna be a helper, or are you gonna get some of your own shit going on? )

(I'm not ever going to say 'no' if someone needs my help.)

[Though he realizes he's not sure if that what she's asking him.]

(What else should I be doing?)

( I dunno. Do I look like your mother? )

[ Bitchily raised eyebrows. ]

( I mean, what're you mad about? )

[Slight sarcasm back:] (No, you don't look anything like my mother.)

[But there is an actual moment of consideration before he adds:]

(In general? Nothing that can be fixed here, apparently, or not anytime soon.)

[Poor, crumbling Eos.]

[ What's she supposed to do with that. She frowns at him, her nose wrinkling. If he'd successfully saved his stupid world he'd be dead and then who the fuck would she even have here now? So instead he just gets to mope about it indefinitely like a big mopey ass. ]

( Somebody else will have to take care of it. )

[He gives her an impressed look. Don't ask him, he thinks, if you plan on dismissing it a millisecond later.]

(There's literally no one else who can. That's the whole point of me even being alive.)

( Just have to get me pregnant and send your son off to do it for you. )

[ She manages to keep a straight face for like three seconds. ]

[Meanwhile, Noctis:]

Wh-

I'm not getting you pregnant!

[(He says out loud, for everyone to hear.)]

He's not even sure it works like that? Would it? He shakes his head, wrinkling his nose. Gods, Annie.]

[ She chokes with laughter, covering her nose and mouth with one hand. She can't believe he actually said that out loud. ]

I think-- [ No, she can't do it, she's laughing too hard. ] I think it's a great idea.

[He looks equal parts horrified, embarrassed, and confused. He exhales through his teeth, though, when she sees her crumple into laughter.]

Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Real funny.

[They were trying to have a serious conversation, but that’s absolutely dissolved into nothing.]

Gods, I thought you were being serious.

[ She grins at him, total self-satisfaction with herself. She will laugh it up, thank you kindly. She flops over when she's finished breathing heavily and smiling. ]

Don't worry about it, we'll find you a princess or something so you have a proper heir.

I don't need a proper heir.

[He crosses his arms, looking at her. Noctis huffs a bit.]

My line dies with me, blah blah blah. You know the story.

Uh, that was when you had to die imminently. Now you got a whole universe full of princesses who could help you out with that end of the line thing.

[ She might be edging into insensitivity, but we hope he'll just take it for the joke it is.... ]

[He does. A weird, insensitive joke, yes. But a joke regardless.]

They'd still be born just to die. Why would I do that to anyone?

[Then again, why was it done to him? He should be more angry about that, but he can't ever bring himself to be.]

Passin' the buck, so you can carry on gallivanting the universe with me, obviously.

[ It would almost be nice. To slough that destiny off to someone else, let him be free. She knows it'll never happen, that he's too much of a softy to inflict that on anyone else. But. It'd be nice. ]

[He gives a little "ha" at that, almost humorless. But it's impossible to miss the smallest tilt of a smile on his face.]

That sure makes me sound like Father of the Year. "Gallivanting" and doing what, exactly?

[ She leans in against him, puts her nose at his jawline. ]

Seeing things. Meeting people. Doing stuff.

[ Like they could make it in to one big intergalactic vacation instead of the ridiculous suicide mission it probably actually is. ]

Doing "stuff".

[He shoulders shake with a laugh that doesn't quite escape him, and she'll feel the stubble at his jawline move against her skin as he retorts back.]

Guess that'd be nice. An extended vacation. I'm sure we both need it.

[But the unspoken reality is that it would be impossible for Noctis. Plagued by guilt, having abandoned his ordained destiny, having shafted the responsibility onto someone else in this hypothetical situation.]

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sistershoggoth - 2017-09-30 22:58 (UTC) - Expand

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somnifacient - 2017-10-02 15:08 (UTC) - Expand

KING to sacrifice	DUTY to bear
KINSHIP to cherish	LIGHT to cast