week 6; exhaustion

[elemancy]

[the end of the night comes, the meeting with who remains ends...

and noct really doesn't want to go back to his room just yet. he doesn't really want to deal with ash right now, and—well, he's still concerned about milla. even after seeing her in the meeting, the way she actually relied on him for help after jason hit her—it's hard to let that go. for someone who constantly keeps going, who had even said as much to him just a day earlier?

it's hard to ignore.

so it's her door he finds himself in front of again, knocking lightly.]

Hey, it's me. [he figures she'll know his voice easily enough, but he says it instead so she doesn't have to actually get up if she doesn't want to.]

Comments

[elemancy]

It's...

[yeah, there's a reason it changed. the reason is that the more he learned about her, who she is and the kind of person she strives to be...

the more he wants to be around her. even noctis knows this is a pretty lowkey crush, one that he should shove to the side and ignore because of... well, everything. because they're in this sick game, because they may die. because they're from different worlds. because she's a lord of spirits and he's a king of humans.

it's not something he should pursue in the least, and he hardly thinks she would even reciprocate something like that anyway.]

Better you focus on your duties with that kind of thing, anyway. I guess.

I'll... mind my gazes, in the meanwhile.

[thatsthespirit]

[. . . part of her wants to press, because she notices the way he aborts his answer. but in the end, she doesn't. fortunately for Noctis's embarrassment]

Don't feel obligated to mind it. As I said, I don't mind.

[she shrugs it off like it's no big deal]

[elemancy]

[it doesn't make him any less endeared to her, though. she's so easygoing about it in a way nobody else would be.

and even he can't be.

so for a moment, he closes his eyes and he tries to find his composure instead.]

Guess... you can just take it as a compliment if you want.

[thatsthespirit]

Well, if that's the case, then I will.

[lightly teasing again! plz keep in mind she's been petting his head throughout this entire conversation]

[elemancy]

[he's fine with all that head patting—he even smiles a bit at the way she teases, since it's not as embarrassing as earlier.]

You probably get that a lot. [enough for her to take it in stride.

but in turn, this time it's noct that reaches out, brushing her bangs away from her eyes so he can see them better—and letting his fingers linger there a bit longer than intended.

...he's charmed, to be sure.]

1/2

[thatsthespirit]

[it's instinct, but she tilts her head into the warmth of his fingers and wrinkles her nose as a strand of hair brushes against it]

[. . .]

[and then she sneezes]

[thatsthespirit]

-- oh! Another sneeze!

[has he ever seen someone so excited about a sneeze]

[elemancy]

[he kind of quickly and instinctually pulls his hand back, a bit startled by her sneeze.

and maybe a bit puzzled by her reaction.]

Is... that weird or something?

[thatsthespirit]

Not at all! I enjoy sneezing. Sneezing produces mucus.

[this is the girl you have a crush on Noctis. this is her]

[elemancy]

[yeah, it sure is. he's... puzzled.]

Yeah? I didn't realize... you liked that so much.

[thatsthespirit]

You don't find it interesting? The sort of things that can stimulate one's nose to cause them to expel air and mucus from it at incredibly high speeds?

[wtf milla]

[elemancy]

I've... really... never thought about that. Like, at all.

[seriously milla. wtf.]

[thatsthespirit]

That's because you humans tend to take things like sneezing, coughing and colds for granted.

[how does one take those things for granted but OKAY MILLA]

[elemancy]

I... don't think most people consider that taking it for granted. Having colds kind of sucks.

[but noct is definitely the type to be a miserable baby when he's sick anyway.]