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[He makes a hiccuping sob and finally buries his face into Ardyn's shoulder, letting it all out.
This Ardyn can only offer him comfort, not forgiveness, but even comfort is something that Izunia has been denied - has denied himself - for far too long.]
...I love you. Even if - even if this changes nothing, if you remember none of this - I love you. I would tear down the very stars themselves to make you happy. I would tear down the sun and usher in that eternal night myself if it eased your pain for even a day, I would destroy the kingdom with my own two hands for you, I...
I would bear it all in your place if I could.
This Ardyn can only offer him comfort, not forgiveness, but even comfort is something that Izunia has been denied - has denied himself - for far too long.]
...I love you. Even if - even if this changes nothing, if you remember none of this - I love you. I would tear down the very stars themselves to make you happy. I would tear down the sun and usher in that eternal night myself if it eased your pain for even a day, I would destroy the kingdom with my own two hands for you, I...
I would bear it all in your place if I could.
You know I would want none of that. Least of all to have you stand where I do and bear what I carry. I love you dearly and would gladly be crushed beneath the endless night if it means that you should avoid such suffering. You are and shall ever be part of my heart, and there is nothing I would turn from if it meant protecting you.
And I suffer far more for having harmed you by mistake than I would under the weight of ten thousand daemons and here we go again.
[Tiniest laugh. They just keep getting caught in this circular discussion.]
[Tiniest laugh. They just keep getting caught in this circular discussion.]
I’m sorry. But we could have worse problems than caring too much for each other.
...
[Junpei glances around at the nonsense geometry of Pitioss Ruins.]
Well, I'm glad I don't come from a place expected to work like this. You got anything stronger than soda?
[Beer him up, man.]
[Junpei glances around at the nonsense geometry of Pitioss Ruins.]
Well, I'm glad I don't come from a place expected to work like this. You got anything stronger than soda?
[Beer him up, man.]
I don't know, we kind of managed to instigate an eventual apocalypse by doing do.
...How strong do you want?
[He should probably not enable your bad decisions Junpei but fuck it you're Ardyn's id not his.
Anyway beer is disgusting.]
[He should probably not enable your bad decisions Junpei but fuck it you're Ardyn's id not his.
Anyway beer is disgusting.]
Do you know how many times I was crushed by a spike cube today?
[How strong do you think he wants?]
[How strong do you think he wants?]
From the sound of it, that was likely to have been mostly my fault.
Touche.
[Here is an entire bottle of brandy. Who needs an alcohol cupboard when you're a Lucis Caelum?]
So do I ever get your name, considering that you already know mine?
[At least, he assumes that Junpei actually knows it and is just using 'uncle shitweasel' out of deranged preference.]
[Here is an entire bottle of brandy. Who needs an alcohol cupboard when you're a Lucis Caelum?]
So do I ever get your name, considering that you already know mine?
[At least, he assumes that Junpei actually knows it and is just using 'uncle shitweasel' out of deranged preference.]
Except that the insanity that led to it was mostly my fault, therefore we are splitting the blame equally and fairly.
Are we really going to start arguing about this?
Hell-o.
[Okay, there's no way Junpei can finish this off by himself, but gee whiz, what a Christmas present. He's perfectly happy to introduce himself now.]
Junpei. Junpei Tenmyouji. Dad decided he'd rather take on that mouthful of a surname than carry "Izunia" around forever.
[Okay, there's no way Junpei can finish this off by himself, but gee whiz, what a Christmas present. He's perfectly happy to introduce himself now.]
Junpei. Junpei Tenmyouji. Dad decided he'd rather take on that mouthful of a surname than carry "Izunia" around forever.
[Enjoy that, Junpei, he's going to stay sober for the time being. Not exclusively because you may need a designated warper to get out of here.
He resists the urge to comment on the matter of how he was usually the one giving piggyback rides as a child, and instead takes a sip of his soda.
It's one of those stupid fancy organic ones, for the record.
Instead, with typical Lucian morbidity - ]
I've heard it said that people only truly die when their names are spoken for the last time.
[He pauses to swirl his soda as though it were something alcoholic.]
I suppose he has every reason to want to hasten my demise, in that sense.
[He never thought he'd find that painful, of all things. And of course he's happy that Ardyn can move on, in any way, but - ]
He resists the urge to comment on the matter of how he was usually the one giving piggyback rides as a child, and instead takes a sip of his soda.
It's one of those stupid fancy organic ones, for the record.
Instead, with typical Lucian morbidity - ]
I've heard it said that people only truly die when their names are spoken for the last time.
[He pauses to swirl his soda as though it were something alcoholic.]
I suppose he has every reason to want to hasten my demise, in that sense.
[He never thought he'd find that painful, of all things. And of course he's happy that Ardyn can move on, in any way, but - ]
No, we are sharing the blame equally and there is no argument allowed.
If that's what it will take to let you smile once more, then I'll simply have to accept that.
And to think that it only took two thousand years for you to not argue with me on such things.
Uhhh, what? Dude, I don't think that was his reasoning at all. God damn, you guys are both morbid as hell.
[New drinking game, take a drink every time a Lucian is a fucking 2000's emo kid. Congratulations, you have died of alcohol poisoning.]
[New drinking game, take a drink every time a Lucian is a fucking 2000's emo kid. Congratulations, you have died of alcohol poisoning.]
We're Lucian royalty. More to the point, we're the generation of Lucian royalty that established the black-and-gold death worship aesthetic of the kingdom.
[Okay so that was mostly Izunia, but. When your entire kingdom is created and founded on your swan song wish that one of your descendants someday manages to kill your twin brother? You get fucking morbid.]
Are you really surprised?
[Okay so that was mostly Izunia, but. When your entire kingdom is created and founded on your swan song wish that one of your descendants someday manages to kill your twin brother? You get fucking morbid.]
Are you really surprised?
Don't be stupid, I'm only twenty. Although, it looks like I'm likely to age pretty well if you're still any indication.
No, but Jesus. I've met Noct, too, and for a guy named "Night" he sure knows a lot more about lightening up than you.
[Another swig, because "black-and-gold death worship aesthetic" definitely merits that.]
He did it because he didn't want to be "Ardyn Izunia" anymore is what I meant. He couldn't go back, but he could look for a way forward. Or something.
[Another swig, because "black-and-gold death worship aesthetic" definitely merits that.]
He did it because he didn't want to be "Ardyn Izunia" anymore is what I meant. He couldn't go back, but he could look for a way forward. Or something.
Mm, we did get off lucky on that front. This is...
[He pauses, and pulls away slightly to examine himself.]
...Thirty-five, thirty-six, somewhere in there. About where you got stuck, for the record.
[Izunia Lucis Caelum died the same day as his brother.]
[He pauses, and pulls away slightly to examine himself.]
...Thirty-five, thirty-six, somewhere in there. About where you got stuck, for the record.
[Izunia Lucis Caelum died the same day as his brother.]
Well, I could certainly do worse.
...So, I've got just about fifteen years left, is that it?
...So, I've got just about fifteen years left, is that it?
[ And that makes her hesitate. Just for a moment. Because, as much as she loves her family and make no mistake that she does, is this really her grudge to hold? Is it really right for her to all but order this man to walk into the line of fire for them, for a hurt that isn't hers to feel?
How would Ardyn feel, she finds herself wondering, if he ever found out what she was doing here? ]
I don't want you dead.
[ If only because she thinks, if anyone should make that choice, it should be Ardyn. He's certainly earned it. ]
But more than that, I don't want to lose anyone else. Not anymore. All of them are so... stupid and headstrong and reckless. But I love them very, very much.
[ There's no more scorn in her words or on her face anymore. Just an earnest sincerity, wide-eyed and almost uncharacteristically straightforward. ]
And I'm just as stupid and headstrong and reckless as they are. So if asking for your help is what it takes to keep them safe, then I don't care about doing it.
How would Ardyn feel, she finds herself wondering, if he ever found out what she was doing here? ]
I don't want you dead.
[ If only because she thinks, if anyone should make that choice, it should be Ardyn. He's certainly earned it. ]
But more than that, I don't want to lose anyone else. Not anymore. All of them are so... stupid and headstrong and reckless. But I love them very, very much.
[ There's no more scorn in her words or on her face anymore. Just an earnest sincerity, wide-eyed and almost uncharacteristically straightforward. ]
And I'm just as stupid and headstrong and reckless as they are. So if asking for your help is what it takes to keep them safe, then I don't care about doing it.
Noctis is crafted entirely of light in a way that the rest of us could only hope to emulate. I'll have you know his grandfather was named Mors.
[It doesn't get more aesthetic than that.]
...Does it have a meaning, besides being yours?
[It doesn't get more aesthetic than that.]
...Does it have a meaning, besides being yours?
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