[ She scoffs and her expression once again becomes that snide little smile. ]
Don't worry. Having you come with us is the last thing I'd want.
[ But within his power makes her realize something. For as ridiculous as Ardyn's powers seem, he's still under the PIP's influence. There's plenty he can't do. But here, suddenly, is a Lucis Caelum without any of those limitations. Who knows what he might be able to do?
Who knows just how useful he might be? ]
But I do want something else. A promise. You already know, don't you? That they must be looking for us.
[In his opinion, even people who don't know that the people in the show are real should have been able to figure out that much. The official story is something about respecting their privacy, but there's still the fact that none of them give interviews, or go to press events, or even interact with the fandom on Space Twitter.
In short, they disappear off the map as soon as a season is finished. That alone is suspicious, and speaks more of going into hiding than retiring with their fame.]
I may not have a map, but I can follow a trail of breadcrumbs perfectly well.
[He leans against the door, folding his arms. It's an intentionally reclaimed gesture of his own - Ardyn in the same position always puts his hands on his hips.]
Oh, absolutely. That shouldn't even be a question.
[ you've seen how angry and punchy this little space family is, good sir. Do you really think they'd just let the Network get away with a stern warning? ]
I don't know how hard they're looking. I don't know if they're even really looking at all, or if they're just letting us run around when they could find us any time they want. We've still got the PIPs, after all.
But however it happens, we're going to be taking the fight to them. And when it does... There's always a chance things won't work out the way we want them to.
[ 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.
[In some ways he doesn't care much one way or the other. In others - he can't even begin to make things right if he just goes and gets himself killed, can he?]
But I won't flinch back from the possibility, either. It was always pain I feared more than death.
[And that sincerity... From Izunia, it earns a small smile.]
I'm afraid you'll find the whole family to be like that, if you haven't already. Me as much as any other. Why am I not surprised that Ardyn settled among his own kind...?
[ It still seems surreal how well they'd all seemed to be matched to each other, for a group of strangers tossed together just to kill. She has to wonder if that had been the Network's intent all along. ]
Just... promise me one more thing, then. Don't tell him I was the one who asked you to do this.
[ she doesn't think she has to clarify just who she means. ]
You're not planning to go charging off for your revenge tomorrow, are you? Surely there's time to pick up something, just in case.
[He seems... surprisingly worried about it? Like, he is genuinely concerned about you guys with a nerfed Ardyn to serve as most of your combat power. The strength of the blood royal is not infinite.]
I know better than anyone exactly how vulnerable members of our family can be.
[Perhaps surprisingly, there's not guilt in it. Instead he meets that knife-filled smile with a look that actually suits a king. It's the look of someone who would turn his whole life on its end for his family at a moment's notice - ]
No matter how you tell me not to worry, I will worry anyway.
[ - the look of someone who watched a hundred and more generations fade away in the night of the crystal, bearing the why of it in his heart for none other to see.]
I do not intend to stand back this time and watch my family die while I can do nothing.
sorry did you say keep twisting the knife? ABSOLUTELY, WITH PLEASURE
[ There's a hundred things she could say in response to that. Some way of voicing the little stab of anger she feels at him saying it like that -- our family, as if he has any right to claim himself a place there. He might have been Ardyn's brother but Yuuri certainly doesn't think of this man as her family. ]
You make it sound like you don't have the least bit of faith in us. We've made it this far and none of us are prepared to stop until we make it all the way to the end.
After two thousand years, being personally manipulated and betrayed by my family's patron god, and working customer service, I'm afraid my faith is all worn out.
[Too bad for your consideration of family, Yuuri, because Izunia has a very different idea of it. He's known you for perhaps half an hour and loves you as dearly as his own children. Deal with it.]
It has nothing to do with your abilities, and everything to do with my own experiences seeing the most determined love in the world go wrong. I...
[He looks away, closing eyes with a sigh.]
I can't simply watch him go off again and feel nothing about it. I do not have to like being left behind again.
I'm not telling you to like it. I'm just telling you that's the way it has to be. And I'm sure all of us would be happier about it if you weren't talking like the voice of doom.
[ Yuuri has one of those in her head that's more than loud enough, thank you very much! ]
We're not just going to run in headfirst and slam right into trouble. We'll have some sort of plan in place. And I don't think escalating things with as many weapons as we can carry would be the right way to go about it.
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no subject
Don't worry. Having you come with us is the last thing I'd want.
[ But within his power makes her realize something. For as ridiculous as Ardyn's powers seem, he's still under the PIP's influence. There's plenty he can't do. But here, suddenly, is a Lucis Caelum without any of those limitations. Who knows what he might be able to do?
Who knows just how useful he might be? ]
But I do want something else. A promise. You already know, don't you? That they must be looking for us.
no subject
[In his opinion, even people who don't know that the people in the show are real should have been able to figure out that much. The official story is something about respecting their privacy, but there's still the fact that none of them give interviews, or go to press events, or even interact with the fandom on Space Twitter.
In short, they disappear off the map as soon as a season is finished. That alone is suspicious, and speaks more of going into hiding than retiring with their fame.]
I may not have a map, but I can follow a trail of breadcrumbs perfectly well.
[He leans against the door, folding his arms. It's an intentionally reclaimed gesture of his own - Ardyn in the same position always puts his hands on his hips.]
You intend to fight back, I take it?
no subject
[ you've seen how angry and punchy this little space family is, good sir. Do you really think they'd just let the Network get away with a stern warning? ]
I don't know how hard they're looking. I don't know if they're even really looking at all, or if they're just letting us run around when they could find us any time they want. We've still got the PIPs, after all.
But however it happens, we're going to be taking the fight to them. And when it does... There's always a chance things won't work out the way we want them to.
no subject
[Well that's no fun.]
I am at your complete disposal for whatever you need.
no subject
no subject
[Though not as difficult to kill as Ardyn.]
no subject
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.
no subject
[In some ways he doesn't care much one way or the other. In others - he can't even begin to make things right if he just goes and gets himself killed, can he?]
But I won't flinch back from the possibility, either. It was always pain I feared more than death.
[And that sincerity... From Izunia, it earns a small smile.]
I'm afraid you'll find the whole family to be like that, if you haven't already. Me as much as any other. Why am I not surprised that Ardyn settled among his own kind...?
no subject
[ It still seems surreal how well they'd all seemed to be matched to each other, for a group of strangers tossed together just to kill. She has to wonder if that had been the Network's intent all along. ]
Just... promise me one more thing, then. Don't tell him I was the one who asked you to do this.
[ she doesn't think she has to clarify just who she means. ]
no subject
[The request for secrecy makes him blink, but then - well, far be it from him to judge others for their secrets.]
If that's truly all, then I feel guilty for not sending you home with a set of knives or a pistol or something.
no subject
[ sir, you saw season three, why would you trust any single person on the fantasy sweet with a gUN ]
I think we'd do more harm to ourselves than anyone else.
no subject
[He seems... surprisingly worried about it? Like, he is genuinely concerned about you guys with a nerfed Ardyn to serve as most of your combat power. The strength of the blood royal is not infinite.]
i feel like i need to apologize for this tag
[ oh hey the smile full of knives is back ]
Dad isn't the only one who knows what he's doing. You don't have to worry about us.
okay I've recovered enough to come back to this
[Perhaps surprisingly, there's not guilt in it. Instead he meets that knife-filled smile with a look that actually suits a king. It's the look of someone who would turn his whole life on its end for his family at a moment's notice - ]
No matter how you tell me not to worry, I will worry anyway.
[ - the look of someone who watched a hundred and more generations fade away in the night of the crystal, bearing the why of it in his heart for none other to see.]
I do not intend to stand back this time and watch my family die while I can do nothing.
sorry did you say keep twisting the knife? ABSOLUTELY, WITH PLEASURE
[ There's a hundred things she could say in response to that. Some way of voicing the little stab of anger she feels at him saying it like that -- our family, as if he has any right to claim himself a place there. He might have been Ardyn's brother but Yuuri certainly doesn't think of this man as her family. ]
You make it sound like you don't have the least bit of faith in us. We've made it this far and none of us are prepared to stop until we make it all the way to the end.
right back at you though
[Too bad for your consideration of family, Yuuri, because Izunia has a very different idea of it. He's known you for perhaps half an hour and loves you as dearly as his own children. Deal with it.]
It has nothing to do with your abilities, and everything to do with my own experiences seeing the most determined love in the world go wrong. I...
[He looks away, closing eyes with a sigh.]
I can't simply watch him go off again and feel nothing about it. I do not have to like being left behind again.
no subject
I'm not telling you to like it. I'm just telling you that's the way it has to be. And I'm sure all of us would be happier about it if you weren't talking like the voice of doom.
[ Yuuri has one of those in her head that's more than loud enough, thank you very much! ]
We're not just going to run in headfirst and slam right into trouble. We'll have some sort of plan in place. And I don't think escalating things with as many weapons as we can carry would be the right way to go about it.
no subject
I'm afraid voice of doom is all I've been for some centuries. I truly do believe in you, I just... can't calm my own anxieties.