And I said let there be light

[founderinglight]

Who: Nap Grandpa Izunia and you!
Where and When: February station catchall! See individual prompts, but also catch him when and where ever. One closed prompt(o).
What: Naps, and sketching, and watching the sunset... And occasionally fucking around with magic because what else is he going to do?
Warnings: None yet beyond extremely eccentric old man doing things.

CLOSED, 22nd evening: Room #3's door

[Knocka knocka, Prompto, you've got someone buzzing your door.

... At 8pm, but honestly for a couple of Lucian night owls that's like. A perfectly reasonable hour. Like it's midafternoon for them.]

Prompto? I brought you something, if you have a minute.

[Come on kid OPEN YE DOOR.]

Roof, 24th evening; Chasing the sunset

[A wise person might have realized by now that the station must be on the east coast of whatever chunk of land it's on, because the sun rises up over the open ocean and sets back behind the cliffs and some distant mountains.

A wiser person yet might have recognized the clouds on the horizon that morning as a sign of some sort of incoming rainstorm.

Izunia is not, for all his age and experience, that person. The drizzle isn't enough to stop him from going outside for his usual sunset watch, but when it suddenly opens up -

Well, then he's left running for cover and then finally standing just inside the door, looking rather like a soaked cat and cursing under his breath.]

Magic lab, 24th night; Let the rain come down

[But perhaps being soaked is a good thing, because it leads to a spark of inspiration -

To Charm's dismay, as almost the entire Magic Lab is now, in fact, also soaked by a sudden burst of summoned water. Elemancy is a particular kind of magic that does in fact do the friendly fire thing...

And here's Izunia in the back, not even having bothered to change out of his wet clothes given what he's working with, sipping a Dr. Jalapeno and looking extremely satisfied with himself.]

Kitchen/dining area, 23rd-26th; For the love of art

[Snacks, check. Soda and/or some other kind of drink, check.

Paper? Pencils? Pens? All check, arranged in a nice little row along the table where Izunia can grab them easily. He's settled into one of the dining room tables that looks like a diner booth and

Actually from the volume of papers around him, he's been sketching for quite a while now, mostly portraits, sometimes scenes. Charcoal, usually, but there's a careful pile of ink drawings as well, set aside so they can dry without getting smeared.

There's something almost frantic in the way he does it, and notably, none of the people he's drawing are from the station.]

Anywhere that looks even mildly comfortable, any time this week

[Oh look, it's... Izunia. Asleep.

At an inappropriate time in a possibly inappropriate place. Even in places that don't have comfortable sleeping places to offer, because guess who now has a bright pink folding chair to deploy from his Armiger at will for naps.

Honestly, does he... ever sleep in his own room?]

Comments

[founderinglight]

...Yes?

[Did the like. Overly fancy swords not clue you into that, Astolfo?]

Founder King, actually, if we're being technical.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He just thought he was some kind of book nerd.]

What- you...Founder King?!

[Give him a moment.]

[founderinglight]

Izunia Lucis Caelum, of the royal line of Lucis, etc and so forth.

[He fidgets with the pencil, adding a few small lines to the man under his hand.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He squints slightly at Izunia. If he can get past all the scruff, questionable beverage choices, and the cat-like sleeping habits, he can kind of see it.]

How- how did you become King? How did you lose your body?

[He has many questions and no tact.]

[founderinglight]

...I died at the end of my life like a normal mortal and persisted for not-actually-uncounted ages as a sort of ancestral spirit.

[Yeah he's just going to ignore the first question for right now! Because he doesn't want to go there!]

[riderofcharlemagne]

Oh. I see.

[That's less exciting than he was expecting. He can't really talk, though.]

Were you like that when you met this guy? [He points to the man in the drawing.]

[founderinglight]

Correct. Though I wouldn't exactly call it meeting - Ignis would likely only be able to pick me out of a lineup because he's familiar with my brother.

[Which he'll just - reach over and grab one of the more finished drawings, which is of a man who could only be his twin, considering. At least Ardyn is smiling in this one.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

So...you met him but he didn't meet you?

[Just making sure he's on the right track. He takes a good look at the drawing, the smile is touching.]

Seems like you're pretty fond of your brother, too. [Or he's just easy to draw, it's almost a self portrait.]

[founderinglight]

More like he had a brief mental contact with over a hundred spirits at once, I doubt any of us left much of an impression at all.

[Izunia's gaze falls over the drawing of Ardyn again and he smiles a little more genuinely.]

He's the most dear person to me in the world.

[riderofcharlemagne]

There's a lot to love in the world, so he's gotta be pretty special for you to value him over everyone else.

[Wait...]

How'd that other guy know him, then?

[founderinglight]

...Ardyn got a rather more unpleasant form of immortality, namely by becoming the unliving avatar of a semi-divine plague.

[He says it with a smile that's just a little bit maybe tiny teeny amount broken.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

That's...rough.

[Doing real good on the sensitivity front.]

Did you meet him again, like this?

[founderinglight]

...No, I didn't.

[Aaaaaaand there it goes, any and all attempts at pretending to be a normal, untraumatized person have left the building. His speech is fairly even, but - he pushes the drawing away, because he doesn't want to ruin it with how his hand is shaking.]

Not that it would have likely mattered, given... Everything I did. But no. Ardyn was rejected by the Crystal, and because of my foolishness, I never got to speak to him again.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Oh-- no. There it is, that change in a person when you've set off an emotional tripwire. He looks over the drawing of Ardyn, and then gazes back to Izunia.

Astolfo makes a small attempt to hide the concern in his voice, though still trying to remain cheery and casual, it noticeably lowers in volume and softens up.]

Well- everyone makes mistakes don't they? You loved him dearly, I'm sure he must've known that.

[founderinglight]

[Ouch, Astolfo, you have managed to say the immediate worst thing possible. Izunia dismisses the pencil into the Armiger and reaches up to rub at his eyes, which are definitely not wet at all. Nope.

Okay but at least he isn't bawling. If anything the threatening tears seem more like a surprise.]

I could hope for that to be the chance, but I know that it's probably not. The time we spent together compared to the amount of time he lived, suffering, under that burden... It's barely a percentage point.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Oh. Ohhh no.

He fucked it.

A panicked look flashes across his face when Izunia reaches to rub his eyes. Please, please don't cry.]

It doesn't matter how long you spend with a person, you know? You could only know someone for a fleeting moment- but that bond - what you feel in that moment, that can stick with you.

[He sounds almost sentimental.]

[founderinglight]

[HE'S ABSOLUTELY FINE AND NOT CRYING AT ALL yeah no just kind of. let him breathe for a minute he'll be okay.]

I think it's been so long, I've forgotten what that kind of optimism felt like.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Take as long of a minute as you need.

When he speaks, that concerned look gets replaced with a warm smile.]

Well, I'll do my best to help you remember then.

[founderinglight]

I...

[There's a long moment where Izunia looks more surprised than anything. Then, slowly, a threadbare smile appears.]

...Thank you. I don't think... I've never had anyone to do that before.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Well, even the faintest of smiles is a start, and no small relief to see.]

There's a first time for everything, right?

[founderinglight]

Of course. If life wasn't full of new experiences even at my age, it would be dreadfully boring.

[The words slide off his tongue readily enough, but they're an automatic response, because he's a politician and politicians can never be without something to say.

It's as close to speechless as he ever gets.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He exhales lightly. For someone who's been around so long, it's bittersweet to think that he's the first person to offer him this kindness.

It's a privilege that he's proud to have.]

I imagine you'll get to have a lot of them here.

[founderinglight]

A perhaps overwhelming prospect, in some ways. Though I can't help but think that most of them are hardly children in comparison.

[How old is Astolfo? We just don't know but it's not older than Izunia.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

I feel the same, but I'd imagine they'd get a little touchy if I were to tell them that.

[He's not older than Izunia, but he's old enough to get it.]

Still, there's value to be had in any kind of friendship, right?

[founderinglight]

Worry not, your secret's safe with me.

[They're teenagers! So many teenagers!]

Though I can hardly say you're wrong. The young are refreshingly unset in their ways, sometimes.