Oh, the world is dark

[berriedmemories]

WHO: The XVs mostly
WHAT: figuring out timeline bullshit and living arrangements
WHERE: A set of cottages by the river
WHEN:end of 2024
WARNINGS: blanket CW for depression (Noctis), suicidal ideation (Ardyn, Cor, Ravus), and general PTSD from a bunch of men that've been through hell. See subject lines for specifics

SUMMARY: The gang's all here and then some! Now what? What do you mean you don't remember..... anything I expect you to? Bahamut did what now?

Comments

[errant_knight]

There are many harsh lessons Niflheim taught him. The hatred of people and their hardened hearts, the depths of depravity men may sink to. What war and grief and the arduous, drawn out fighting does to people. How to fight. How to kill. How to keep it from his conscience. What survival means, what persisting against the odds must look like. All things he's ingrained into himself, and almost can't begrudge.

But it's made him forget certain things, too. Things like this: being shown genuine empathy, and not just a coy plot to wring something out of him. Even when he looks for it, waits for whatever Prompto might want in return for a sympathetic ear. Yet it doesn't come. There's simply understanding, and gentle hands holding his claws like he can feel it.

"Unpleasant," Ravus says so mildly it's almost comical. It was Hell. But he thinks that's implicitly known. "But... I suppose it couldn't kill all of me." If nothing else, Ravus is too stubborn for that.

Exhaling a deep breath, Ravus carefully turns his claws over to curl around Prompto's hand in turn. Though he swears he can't feel through it, his thumb still smooths over the blond's knuckles in slow circles.

"I don't know what you gain from hearing all of this, but thank you for listening nonetheless."

[heliographic]

"Hey. I'm glad it didn't kill you. Even if you were a bit of a pain in the butt for us for a bit."

Prompto says it with a warm smile, right up at Ravus, his mind lighting up a little at the feeling of those gentle circles traced along his knuckles. Who knew a magitek weapon could be so soft?

The beautiful (and likely baffling to Ravus) truth about Prompto is that he expects nothing in return for his kindness. That what he gains from this is connection, and even without that he would happily listen again and again for Ravus' sake. The blond is built on a selflessness that has no room for concepts of transactional relationships, and a compassion that breaks down even the walls of past enemity. Sometimes it can be at his own expense. But here, it's clear just how much it fuels him.

"I...Get it. Yknow? And you, you get it, the whole..." he tilts his head towards the barcode. "In a way no one I've ever met does. You ever need a listener again, um, you can come right to me."

That's a promise.

[errant_knight]

"You dropped a primordial god on one of my bases." Ravus says it so flatly, that if it were anyone else, it would have to be a joke. But Ravus is entirely deadpan, without a hint of irony or comedy to be found. "I think the pain originates from your lot, actually."

Still, he sighs after a moment, and lets it go (for now). Prompto is a bewildering, if endearing, thing as is. He doesn't need to add the debate of necessitating the Fulgarian's presence to complicate it further. A long moment passes as he recollects himself, and can't help but be touched by Prompto's offer.

"For what it is worth," Ravus says as he turns Prompto's hand over to observe the barcode once more. "Even if Verstael's horrors caused so much pain, I am full glad that such warmth could also come from that wretched wasteland. Like the bloom of a flower escaping the weight of the last frost. That you were not left trapped to your fate there. That it could not bury your heart."