theairlock | week 6

[...Great. The last person he wanted to see in the last place Ardyn wanted to see him. Maybe if he just turned and walked out as quietly as he could-]

[or a pigeon could stick its head out of his scarf as soon as he'd gotten past step one and make sounds resembling a few opening notes, fluttering her wings and settling back into her terrible fashion choice of a nest.]

...

[Figures. Now even the damn bird was deciding to betray him.]

Edited 2017-06-19 02:16 (UTC)

[And who could ignore the siren call of Queen? (Unless it's Vanilla Ice, but these pigeons know their shit.)

Church doesn't drop the bottle of--he's pretty sure it's some kind of alien gin? Stares after the apparently offending hood and the man that hood is attached to. Somehow. Scoodies, man, the fuck. He puts the bottle back carefully but doesn't come out from behind the bar.]

I'm not stopping you from singing a duet with Luscinia.

I am doing nothing of the sort.

[he thought he could trust birds if nothing else :(]

[birds know what is up my man]

Well then hell, I'll do a duet with Lusci if she ever wants to leave her nest. It's a good song. I should teach you some Queen.

You uh...need the room for something?

...No. It was nothing important, so don't mind my interruption.

Not an interruption. Just...looking for ideas. Something later on in the week. Since I'm apparently the go-to guy for smiles and laughter, might as well keep it up.

Probably seems dumb. In the face of everything. But it makes people smile when they need it, so I must be doing something right for a little bit.

Distractions. We all need 'em.

You could always offer to drink yourselves stupid and make utter idiots of yourselves in here again, that went over quite well last time.

[Ardyn pulled over the nearest chair, slouching in it like he either owned the place or didn't care enough to look half presentable.]

[Might as well own the place, and since when is anything about this ensemble and hair even half-presentable I ask you.]

I'd call it a rousing success. By the way, several people definitely think we slept together, and as you know, there's nothing I've done or said to discourage that notion.

[He flashes a not at all innocent smile before going back to his sorta-catalogue.]

The guys sleepover went pretty well, too, except for the glitter ghost. [Look at him, directly avoiding the word demon for something more...Church-y, honestly.] But I'm gonna deliberately try not to get people drunk as shit. Offer up drinks, but just for a buzz, not drunk into a stupor. Some party games. Something light and easy and not liable to get me shoved bodily across the floor unless someone wants to try and give Monopoly a go. That shit'll ruin friendships, every time.

[Ardyn rolled his eyes at that, in halfhearted annoyance.]

Do what you will, if you think it might accomplish anything. I'm not all that interested.

Didn't think you would be. Not saying you're not invited, it's just definitely not your bag. You don't really do 'fun'.

[It was funny, wasn't it?]

[Not that long ago he'd been in this same exact location--all bright and sharp smiles, confident laughter, the impulsive and informal Ardyn instead of the halfway formal savior king. The sharp taste of cinnamon, the near-sensory overload of that dark cloud having been lifted off of his emotions, the satisfaction of seeing Church startled nearly off his feet and hearing the others laugh-]

[And now here he was, and so much of that was just dead. It hurt to even recall, in the dull and irritating way a long-healed broken bone might still ache.]

[It was funny to think that such a short time felt like so long ago. So why wasn't he laughing?]

...No. I suppose that I don't.

Hey man, unless you really want me to lube up the floor again and see how hard you can shove me. There's still a whole 'nother bottle I managed not to use, and one long hallway clear of debris can be good. You ever play shuffleboard? No, wait, what's the one on ice called? The Olympic sport. It's very Canadian. Curling! It'll be like curling.

[Ardyn does not have to stay to listen to Church while he rambles on and figures out which boozes might be tasty, mixable, and not crazy alcoholic. Was he trying to avoid Church, until Lusci came to the rescue?]

You could probably find fun if you looked for it, but your definition of it miiiight differ from the rest. Coping mechanisms, man, I am telling you, they make the world go 'round and therapists get paid.

...'You're much more charming when you talk less.'

[That was all Ardyn said, a pale and hollow echo of what had been far more sincere only a couple weeks ago.]

[Sure hope nobody wanted to drink that particular bottle of champagne, because whoops, there it goes right out of his hands. Time stands still for several extraordinarily long seconds, and his world tilts at just enough of an angle to feel a little bit dizzy.

When everything feels just right enough to remember he should maybe have a possibly better reaction than that, he tries for a laugh, first, which just ends up sounding like huffs of air with nothing behind it. At long last, he dares to look at Ardyn. Mostly Izunia. But, somewhere deep down, smothered in darkness and madness, also Lucis Caelum.]

There's...not a whole lot that gets me to shut the hell up.

That-...

[Just die. Drown, disappear, you don't exist anymore. The savior, the compassionate monarch, the mortal that once was should never have been again. And Ardyn Izunia just wanted to take those shards of humanity and grind them to dust, tear the ring from his hand and shatter it against the wall. Ardyn Lucis Caelum hadn't existed for millennia until this place forced him back into the light, and now...now who or what even was he?]

[Ardyn leaned forward with his head in his hands, every word sounding like it was tearing itself from his throat.]

...sounds like-...like a challenge.

[If he felt like he could pull it off without hurting himself, he'd vault over the fucking bar. As it is, he has a moment of horrendous panic, cold and sick in his gut. This--this is not Izunia. Even with the exhaustion, the only other times he'd sounded even close to this was arguably when he'd confessed to not knowing what to do, angry and confused and lost, and--

Please help me.

Maybe helping someone who is at least half a genocidal vengeful monster is going to get him killed one of these days, but damn if that's going to stop him now, coming around the bar so it's not in the damn way. Doesn't hesitate to press a kiss into Ardyn's hair and pull him into a hug, to tuck Ardyn's head under his chin and hold tight.]

[Why? Why was everyone showing him sympathy? First Lunafreya and then...then Noctis, of all people, had looked right at him with those damned blue eyes that matched Izunia's and-]

['This time, you can rest in peace.']

[Even hatred was starting to fail Ardyn now. The blazing, burning rage of two thousand years had begun to fade like the last embers of a wildfire in a forest burned black, leaving behind...leaving whatever this was. Whatever was half-formed from spite and the desperate desire to just let it end. Whether that was more Ardyn Izunia or Ardyn Lucis Caelum...he didn't know. He didn't know who he was or how to just kill whatever was still human within himself.]

[Ardyn froze at the sudden contact, but didn't argue or push Church off like his ordinary kneejerk reaction probably would have been. He was just...much too tired to even bother with the argument that would result.]

...you're making a mistake.

['When the prophecy is fulfilled, all in thrall to darkness shall know peace.']

[Yet the Chosen King had surely ascended, and here he remained in his own personal hell as something neither Starscourge nor human.]

Edited (spelling) 2017-06-19 19:06 (UTC)

Shut up, next I'm supposed to say touche, Your Majesty, but it didn't feel right without--

I--

[Words can't fail him now when he needs them. Or maybe he needs to stop trying and let the quiet take over. He is the King's Shield, whether either one of them likes it or fucking not. Doesn't know what all's left behind of Eos, who is all left behind--it's both unforgivable and yet so very fucking far away as to be akin to an abstract concept. He tries to summon up the fear and hate that comes with history lessons and the threat of alien annihilation, but he finds he can't. When he has Ardyn here in his god damn arms.]

I know. That it's a mistake. But it's made, and I can't fix it now.

You're certain to regret it, you know.

[That came out quietly; a simple admission of fact, with no venom or hate behind it. Ardyn didn't move to reciprocate whatever the hell this was, but for now the fact that it was still happening meant just as much.]

I know. I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid. It's not like I can shut it off. I might've made a decision, but it doesn't feel like I've got a choice.

Besides, there's a saying. To err is human. So. I guess by that standard we're both at least a little bit human.

That's your own choice. Don't start cursing me when it starts to backfire on you.

[He'd had quite enough of that.]

...This should have been over. Human, daemon, either way--I should be dead.

I mean there'll be cursing either way, it's me.

[He pulls away enough to look at him, but like fuck is he pulling his hands away. The touch-starvation might only have been in his head, but damn it...]

Yeah, maybe. We've already proved it doesn't matter here, in this place and crazy way in the future. Lotta people already dead just being here. You're not exempt from the made-up rules of this place.

... [His right hand moved as though he was going to pry off the hold Church had--and then he hesitated, hand dropping to rest on Church's arm instead.]

...I don't know who you're talking to right now. I don't know what I am or what's left after all this.

Then this is gonna be a fun--and by fun, let it be known I mean really, really painful--time of self-discovery for you until we get the fuck out of here.

Because someone's left enough to invoke ye olde kissing challenge of karaoke-off past, and someone's left to stay, and someone's here right now. Even if it's 'just Ardyn', or even if it's someone new.

[A low, tired chuckle left Ardyn at that, head dropping onto Church's shoulder in either complete exhaustion or something that passed for affection when one was completely dead inside.]

...I don't understand any of you. Why-...even Noctis wouldn't just hate me in the end. Why, when that's...so much easier than anything else?

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