we beta-tested this dad

[bloodyashes]

[Airlocked may be over and its producer behind bars... But that doesn't mean that the technology for taking people from their worlds is gone, or that all of IG7's sponsors have given up on replicating its popularity. The fact that the intergalactic police now have to have a taskforce specifically to prevent copycats speaks well enough to that. Some are looking for fame, some are the filthy rich and immoral looking for their own entertainment, but either way, it's happened a good handful of times.

At least this one they caught before it could get into full swing. And, naturally, when it comes to extraction from such situations, the taskforce calls in the experts.

(The added potential firepower doesn't hurt, either.)

There's only a few of the stasis pods filled yet - not enough even for a full 'season' - and the police have gotten most of them, if not squared away, calmed down to the point that they'll accept aid.

Except for one young man - a boy, really, in his late teens with long red hair spilling over his shoulders - with a set to his brows that says he's going to fight anything that tries to get close, and a shimmering light, sometimes gold, sometimes violet, that clings to him like a second skin. None of the police he glares at suspiciously are quite willing to get close to him, not when they don't know what he can do, not when there's only two walls between where they are and the vacuum of space.

Good thing the captain's smart enough to call for more magically-oriented backup, right?]

Comments

[burninglight]

-yes, yes, I've got it, don't worry.

[Ardyn politely waved off the turian officer with the accent; he really wanted as little to do with these situations, but sometimes even the space police needed help from civilians with a bit more power than any civilians should have had. So a man in casual clothes with a short orange scarf and messy violet hair in a short ponytail walked in, leaving the door open and stepping away from it enough to both leave the potential escape route open and give the redhead a respectable amount of space.]

Hello, there. I'm sorry you were caught up in a mess like this.

[bloodyashes]

[The redhead is still clearly on-guard - the report would have mentioned him putting a hand to a hip for a sword that wasn't there, everything but his clothes stashed in another room.

But there's immediately something different about his posture when Ardyn walks in - recognition flashes in his eyes, and his expression goes a little slack, the threatening glow vanishing.]

- Ardyn?

[He asks it hesitantly, almost nervously, but, really, could those yellow eyes and that hair below to anyone else?

(Well, yes, they could, he knows that well enough. And if it's Izunia, well, he's just not going to think about that.)]

[burninglight]

...Yes?

[He was used to being recognized (honestly, he kind of enjoyed it now and then), but this was...something different. Ardyn couldn't quite place why, but this seemed like familiarity more than just recognizing someone from two seasons of Airlocked.]

[bloodyashes]

[It's enough. The last of the tension vanishes suddenly as a popped balloon, as the boy sighs and presses his face briefly into his hands, fingers pulling his bangs back into a form of order that more resembled Ignis' preferred hairstyle than anything.]

Thank Lorelei.

[He's safe, or at least safe enough. Even if this, quite obviously, isn't his Ardyn. Different, but the same enough - that tiredness from the desert, the healer more apparent than the Scourge and still not quite right for either, but -

He exhales slowly and starts to slide down to sit against the wall.]

[burninglight]

You know, I do have chairs if you'd prefer. Are you hungry?

[...Ardyn took that as enough indication he could safely approach, so he took a few steps closer.]

Forgive me, I'm...not sure I know your name.

[bloodyashes]

I'm fine.

[Rather, he's coming down from a panic attack and that's rough on the stomach, you know how it is.]

It's Asch.

[Now, how to word the really crazy part.]

...It's weird to see you looking so normal.

[Nailed it.]

[burninglight]

Asch. It's nice to meet you.

[Ardyn dropped to sit down on the floor in front of him, just a few feet away.]

My name's Ardyn Tenmyouji...I don't think I'm the Ardyn you probably know.

[bloodyashes]

Considering that the other one was still using 'Izunia,' the name alone makes it obvious.

[He runs a hand through his hair again. Stress tell, he's got one.]

Still a sight for sore eyes.

[burninglight]

...I stopped using that name a long while ago. I'm sorry you had to deal with him.

[bloodyashes]

...Don't be. He was one of the best things that could have happened to me, and not just because it meant that I knew you were safe.

[He drops his hand away from his hair and sighs, expression hardening up again for a moment.]

And yes, I know exactly how nuts that sounds.

[burninglight]

[Ardyn stared at Asch in genuine confusion and slight alarm, clearly having no idea how to process that.]

...well, at least I don't have to tell you that much.

[bloodyashes]

[He snorts, just a little.]

I know... a lot. And a lot of it's the same.

[He peaks his knees in front of them, looking much younger - or maybe, more like his age. Like Ignis indeed, it's clear that he normally works hard to come off as older than he is.]

He was the first person who ever got angry for me.

[burninglight]

I don't really...think I understand. Anger was all he really knew, why does that matter so much?

[bloodyashes]

Because it was the first time that someone cared about what the Score and he shall be born of royal blood with hair of red meant for the person born into it. The first time someone really knew what it meant to be born at the mercy of a prophecy and used for it.

[He makes himself stop there, because this isn't his Ardyn, and he doesn't want to overwhelm the man, but there is just... So much. There's so much in the middle.]

[burninglight]

...

[That..did actually sort of make sense. Of course he'd be furious about a prophecy even at his worst; he was furious right now even if it took a backseat to concern and sympathy.]

I'm sorry. I think I might have a clearer picture of it now.

[bloodyashes]

Plus the miasma, plus the Seventh Fonon being normally used for healing even if that's not what I do with it, plus both of us having been replaced by someone else living under our names...

[He has a goddamn list, here.]

...There's a lot.

[burninglight]

Fucking hell.

[...not inaccurate]

[bloodyashes]

They're both two thousand year old prophecies, even, it's incredibly stupid.

[Shitposting and complaining about the little things is how we cope.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn reached out slightly, as if not sure whether to put a hand on Asch's shoulder or stay where he was.]

I'm...sorry.

[bloodyashes]

[It's invitation enough. Asch slides across the floor to lean into his side, instead, going well beyond the simple hand on shoulder.]

There was a while when he was... Not human, not like this, but it was less and he could think. Kept telling us all to leave before the monster came back.

[burninglight]

...that does sound like something I'd say.

<small.[A little hesitantly, he put an arm around Asch's shoulders.]

[bloodyashes]

We were pretty stubborn about staying anyway.

[The little tensions in his shoulders start to fade away, and while he doesn't sigh contentedly, there's definitely something of that feeling about him. Safe.]

Don't let them... Wherever they're sending us. I don't want to go.

[burninglight]

Relax—no one’s going to hurt you. If you don’t have anywhere to go back to, I’ll find somewhere for you.

[bloodyashes]

...I want to stay.

[burninglight]

...Hell of a place to stay, if you mean here specifically.