Get in time traveller

[warmgaze]

[Altissia. The ring, burning into his finger, burning into his skull, and he knows the price without asking, knows before it's paid. The thing you value most, isn't that always how this works in fairytales?

Ravus. Noctis. Ardyn, and that little revelation barely enters his mind at the time, the familiar glowing signature of a warp in an unfamiliar color. The prophecy, the visions that hang in his mind, a last wish from a woman who spent her life to ensure it, Lunafreya's final message to ensure that Noctis would survive.

The last clear words he can remember clearly, You've a calling to fulfill, and then Prompto and Gladio's voices, concerned, in a blur...

And then nothing. Just the feeling of a ring's power, setting him alight from fingertips to crown -

It's still in him, that power. The ring of the Lucii binds to its wearers for life, knotting strands of light into their souls, be they kings or anyone else.

(He had expected to die. Living is harder.)

And in the depths of his unconsciousness, in the place where he knows the things that he hasn't had time to consider, Noctis and Ardyn and prophecy and all of that terrible weight -

From there, from the connection of the fire in his soul that will never go out, that can only be smothered and locked away in the dark, a voice says, what would you give to change fate?

And, of course, he answers, Anything.

----

In another world, Ignis Scientia wakes in Altissia, his face scarred, his vision burned away, and continues on.

In this one, Prompto Argentum enters the room just in time to see a flare of purple flame lick along his friend's body and leave nothing behind, not even a char mark on the wrinkled sheets.

And Ignis?

Ignis wakes, with a groan and a hand pressed to his face, in the back of a cart that trundles to a stop to pick up another passenger, a young healer with cheeks not yet sunken by pain and eyes not yet yellowed by plague. He wakes bereft, on some fundamental level, of the touch of magic that bound him to Noctis, the hum of energy that bound retainer to prince...

He wakes with the imprint of a ring on his finger, the memory of agreeing, and not the damnedest idea where he is.]

Comments

[burninglight]

What made you think I was planning anything of the sort? I haven't been home in a while, I'm hardly going to rush back out the door after barely a day.

[warmgaze]

Of course. Forgive me. I didn't mean to imply that you're the sort to make reckless decisions at the expense of your own well-being if you see another in need of aid.

[He says it smooth as silk... But from the way he's smiling, that's definitely teasing.]

[burninglight]

One need only ask my brother to hear at length about how 'reckless decisions' is my middle name.

[And that smile was unmistakably flirtatious.]

[warmgaze]

Started with running with scissors and worked your way up, then?

[THIS IS FINE, HE'S NOT DYING INSIDE AT ALL.]

Because I do think it fair to warn you that I am not quite as reckless as that smile of yours, restrictions on strenuous activity or no.

[burninglight]

Daggers, more likely.

[Shrug.]

But I've no idea what you might mean.

[warmgaze]

[...You know what? Okay. He grew up alongside a Lucis Caelum, he should have expected that.]

Just that I'm not prepared to step into the kind of recklessness Izunia was so helpfully implying last night, and I felt it better to get the matter out of the way now.

[Before anyone's feelings got hurt. Or before he made the single most regrettable decision of his life.

Because when Ardyn smiles, he looks all the more like Noctis. And it is perhaps a blessing for Ignis that his vision is so blurred right now, because he thinks that, if he could see it in perfect clarity, he might do anything for that smile, including forget whose face it's on.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn raised his hands defensively, still smiling.]

As you wish. I'll not go so far as to expect anything.

[warmgaze]

I appreciate it. I don't mind a bit of verbal sparring, but I thought it for the best to make things clear from the beginning.

[burninglight]

Oh, no. The last thing I would wish is to make you uncomfortable here. Our home is yours, and you should be at ease in all respects.

[warmgaze]

You are too kind, truly.

[Also how many conversations like that are they going to have?]

...What is there for breakfast?

[burninglight]

I'm not sure, actually--Izunia does most of the cooking, he surely made something or other earlier.

[let's just. poke around the kitchen a lttile.]

[warmgaze]

[Well, if that's an invitation to be nosy, he'll definitely be -

Dear Astrals this entire shelf is full of various kinds of dried peppers in jars. Who the hell needs this many peppers. Izunia Lucis Caelum is an absurd human being.]

I'm a decent hand in the kitchen myself, under normal circumstances. If he hasn't left anything, I'm sure between the two of us, we can manage.

[burninglight]

...Is this a bad time to point out I don't know how to cook?

[warmgaze]

I'd gotten that impression, actually. But if you can follow directions, we should be able to manage at least eggs on toast or some such.

[Or - oh, hey, this breadbox contains mostly muffins. That's a start. Thanks, past Izunia.]

[burninglight]

I'm a mechanic, following directions is what I do best.

[warmgaze]

It looks like we've got the carbohydrates covered, at least. But given our combined condition, we should really at least make an effort to find protein...

[Is this what passes for a fridge in Solheim? Apparently so because it's chilly on the inside.

...Ha, sweet victory.]

Eggs or sausages?

[burninglight]

...Eggs sound good. Far more versatile, as far as I know.

[warmgaze]

Eggs it is. How do you like them?

[This is so surreal and he's just going with it, carefully taking the container of eggs in hand and setting it on the counter.]

[burninglight]

Surprise me, I suppose--I defer to your apparent expertise.

[warmgaze]

Scrambled is likely easiest with my vision in this condition. Could you get me a bowl, salt, pepper, and... hmm, perhaps a tomato if you have one handy?

[burninglight]

[Ardyn frowned in such a way that it was clear he took issue with the very existence of tomatoes, but was too kind a person to criticize a guest.]

Of course I can.

[Resigning himself to a fate worse than death, he turned and started arranging everything on the counter.]

[warmgaze]

[Don't worry, Ardyn, you'll barely be able to taste it.

Ignis takes a minute to run through the drawers instead, finally locating a well-used whisk and taking up a paring knife from the knifeblock. Once he gets started, cracking eggs with one hand on the rim of the bowl, it's readily apparent that he's practiced at this to the point that he almost doesn't need to look.

A fortunate thing, given the circumstances.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn, meanwhile, watched in a way that was only a few steps from hovering; while he wasn't quite staring, there was a clear interest on his face.]

[warmgaze]

[Lots of egg! Whisk egg. Chop tomato, tomato chunks into egg. Little salt, little pepper, whisk it some more.

this is how you make scrambled eggs right i don't know i don't actually eat eggs]

Frying pan?

[burninglight]

[meh]

Oh--right, of course. [That, he pulled out of the Armiger in a quick flash of red.]

...don't tell Izunia I had that.

[ardyn, what the hell.]