week 3; bros who suffer together, survive together (maybe)

[elemancy]

[most of the afternoon was spent outside the reaches of the main town, out on the homestead. it was... not easy. nor was it fun. really? noct could use probably about.

oh, who knows?

84 naps? 84 naps sounds good.

either way, before he does that—there's someone else he sorely needs to check on. but when noctis doesn't see percy anywhere in sight, his first thought is to see if he's in his room. he... understands this well. too well, given what had happened in altissia.

(though perhaps worse in some ways, if only because noctis saw it and was helpless, but this isn't a competition for worst way for your girl to die and be dead, so he's sure as hell not considering it that way.)

he'll knock softly at the door.]

Hey... it's me. [noct is so good at greetings, right?] Got a sec?

Comments

[hydrokinetics]

I think I get that, too. [He frowns lightly.] There's never enough time to react to stuff back home. It almost feels the same in this place, too. We know the same thing's going to come week after week but somehow we never know how to deal with it because something else happens.

I wish I knew of a way to make things less complicated, you know? Wouldn't that be something?

[elemancy]

Yeah. Was... different back there, but it's got the same feeling sometimes.

[especially with the way people seem to end up losing limbs and other appendages around here. whoops.]

Don't really think there's a way to make it less complicated aside from ending it. [and maybe stopping people from being so reckless and stupid, but that's not gonna happen either.]

[hydrokinetics]

And we're getting no closer to ending it than we were at the start of the week. Annabeth was always the one to come up with ideas, I don't know what I'm supposed to do without her now. [He's running a hand over his face.]

...what's the likelihood we could at least get rid of the stocks so nobody else experiences that?

[elemancy]

Try to come up with out own ideas, I guess.

[not exactly dead, but ignis was always the brains of his operation, so it's not like noct's got any real ideas here.]

The stocks? He'd probably just put a new one up. That guy's always craving crap, isn't he?

[hydrokinetics]

My ideas usually suck. [There's an almost-bitter laugh. Grover and Annabeth used to always harp on his ideas being terrible. They worked, but they were terrible.]

He is, which I think is weird. What's he supposed to do with all of that? [He makes a face though.] No idea if he could make a new set of stocks in a day though.

[elemancy]

Same.

[maybe two bad ideas could make a good one?

(no, probably not.)]

Who knows. For all we know, he's got spares stored away in case we mess with the set out there.

[hydrokinetics]

...he's a robot. You think there're spares of him stored somewhere? [Please don't kill the robot, Percy.]

[A pause.] I really was prepared for it to be me first. [And then:] Noctis? Tell me about her.

[elemancy]

Wouldn't surprise me.

[if that was the case. but noct nods as percy speaks, understanding where he's coming from with him expecting to be first.

not... that he'd have wanted that, but he gets it.]

Her... [oh.

right.] You... want to hear about Luna?

[hydrokinetics]

[He nods slowly, giving Noctis a wide-eyed look, almost like a baby seal pleading for help.]

If that's okay. I'm just wondering now that you've said it.

[elemancy]

[he doesn't really mind, though... it's not easy, because he's bad at words. especially words like this.

so for a minute, he falls quiet before he draws in a quiet breath.]

She... was an Oracle. Tenebraean royalty... someone who could communicate with the gods and heal people that were... plagued.

[it's hard to explain without getting into details about the starscourge, but he doesn't think it matters much.] She was strong, and smart. Outspoken. She did things her way, on her terms.

Luna... always looked out for everyone. She took her role seriously... right to the very end.

[basically, she was amazing af and so pretty and way out of his league in all ways but. she was special and important and made him want to accept his role as king more than anything else that was supposed to compel him.]

[hydrokinetics]

[He seems to understand that much at least, seeing how there's no confusion in his expression or anything.]

We have an Oracle, too. She works with the god of prophecies and she takes her job really seriously, too. [Granted Rachel's supposed to be a maiden so that's where it differs. Still, even so, he thinks of what it would be like if Annabeth were the Oracle instead and it's about then he can sort of sympathize with Noctis's situation.]

She sounds...really important. And really brave. [He can admire those traits, too.] How long did you know her?

[elemancy]

[it seems like their oracles are a little different, but with the gist being the same, at least he doesn't have to explain much of it.

and the other good thing is that the gushing compliments can stop. because honestly? noct feels pretty sheepish speaking so fondly of her, even if everything he said was completely true.

but it makes it a lot easier to answer a very straightforward question, only response to the rest with a bit of a nod.]

Twelve years.

[hydrokinetics]

[...a stare.]

Aren't you only, like, twenty? [That's so long. He has a hard time imagining it, but at the same time he also already planned a future together for him and Annabeth.] No wonder things were bad.

[elemancy]

Yeah.

[not that they were betrothed that whole time, but it's still how long he's known her.]

It was bad for a lot more reasons. But... that part really didn't help, either.

[hydrokinetics]

I mean of course it was, I just...[He shakes his head.] It's a really, really long time.

...this might sound crazy, Noctis, but is there any way to maybe get her back? Would you want to?

[elemancy]

Even if there was...

[which he doesn't think there is. they never even found her body.]

She wouldn't want it. That's... it's not the kind of person she was. [no matter how much he may want her back, that's just not how luna is. she was so dedicated to her duty, and giving her life while carrying it out—

that's luna. she didn't live with regrets that way, that was why she was there when she was, right? his dreams told him that too... that luna left, but she did so with no regrets.]

[hydrokinetics]

…I'm sorry. [In a way, maybe this is better. At least he can bring Annabeth back.] In most normal situations, Annabeth would be the same way. I think she'll forgive me here, but I just have to figure out how to do it.

But…it doesn't have to be today, right?

[elemancy]

Not sure it could even be today even if we wanted it to. But...

[he nods. he gets it.] Not just her. Everyone who was killed unfairly—none of them deserved any of this.

[hydrokinetics]

You think some of the people here were killed fairly? [He's shifted, his face burrowed in Mrs. O'Leary's fur and his voice slightly muffled but at least he's talking.] Either way I agree, nobody deserved this. If we could offer the Bandits or whoever a better deal, maybe they'd stop doing this.

[elemancy]

That's... not what I meant.

[good going on the tact there, noct. he winces a little—he knows nobody died fairly, that every death was unjust, but the point is that it's not just about saving annabeth, but everyone who got sucked into this.]

Just wonder if there's anything we could even offer. We don't... we don't even know what the terms are to compete with it.

[hydrokinetics]

I don't know...getting people to trust us to come to us for help instead of being bullied into this probably sounds like a good start. [He's staying burrowed in Mrs. O'Leary's fur, whoops.] If people trusted us, we could figure out a better solution.

[elemancy]

Yeah, can't argue that. Just not sure how easy that part's really gonna be. It was already tough to begin with....

[and trust is going to keep deteriorating.]

[hydrokinetics]

If we just keep talking to people, that'll help. It has to. I can't give that up yet and...you trust some people here, don't you, Noctis?

[elemancy]

I'm not giving up, I just know... it's not gonna get any easier as the other things get worse.

[the more people end up dead, the more killers they end up not finding—he doesn't yet know how bad that will actually be, but his confidence in that much is undoubtedly a bit shaken.]

...But yeah, I do. At least a bit.

[hydrokinetics]

Hold onto those people. [He's busy curling into his dog, enough that Mrs. O'Leary whimpers.] Focus on them. They're going to be how we get through all of this.

...that, I think, will make it a little easier at least.