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

[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.

[bloodyashes]

What - Hell no, don't be stupid.

[Congrats, Ardyn, you made him emote back around to being Grumpy.]

[burninglight]

Just kidding.

[bloodyashes]

[Teenager ugh and aggressive elbowing. He's surprisingly, almost supernaturally, strong under all those clothes.]

[burninglight]

Well, it'll be a lot to explain, but I think we've the room to bear one more.

[bloodyashes]

More than a lot. I know.

[And no promises that he'll be especially good at people, either, because as Ardyn can probably guess, he's not the most socially adjusted teen around.]

But I'm not going to be a burden.

[It's not quite 'thank you,' but it's not not thank you, too.]

[burninglight]

The others are used to me adopting strays; it's rather how we all came together in the first place. I don't think it'll be a difficult concept to accept.

[bloodyashes]

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. You seem to attract a certain kind of person.