IC INTRO - JUNE '18

[phantasmods]

After the fight with the siren has settled, those characters with phones hooked to the KEystone network will get a text -

Okay, everyone, you had better come back in. There's a storm brewing just off the coast.

Even given Up's usual professionalism, it seems rather... subdued?

----

For once, there are no androids at all to greet you upon your return, or arrival, as the case may be. A shelter has been set up for the boats on the shoreline of Glitterstone, however. By the time you tromp up the lighthouse stairs to the level of the Station itself, the sky is beginning to grey with the promised storm.

There's not the typical feast outside, but there is a fairly extensive taco bar set up in the common room, left unattended as well. The room sign-up sheet and boxes of freebies are also there, complete with the Braille versions, and a note at the bottom of both room sheets reads "If all rooms are full, space has been made in the meeting rooms on the top floor. We'll have additional rooms available as soon as possible."

It does appear that someone has updated the murder counter while you were away, however, for the turning of the week. It now reads 15 weeks without murder.

Other than that, you're free to explore, including in the newly finished sections of the Annex (should you be willing to brave the storm to get between buildings). However, wherever you go, the androids are almost conspicuously absent - even in the medical bay and Down's workstation in the command center.

The meeting room they have for their own private use is securely closed and locked.

Comments

[founderinglight]

...You could say that. He was my very first friend here, really.

[burninglight]

...Yeah? I think I know the feeling.

[founderinglight]

Just declared it on the spot and who was I to say no to that?

...We may have a type, brother dear.

[burninglight]

[Ardyn actually laughed at that, running a hand through his hair.]

I can't argue. That's exactly what happened on my side, too.

[founderinglight]

He's recklessly cheerful and keeps me on my toes in just the right way to keep me present.

[So, really, he doesn't need to put words to the feeling, because he's pretty sure Ardyn gets it.]

[burninglight]

I did rather get that impression when we spoke, truthfully. He's certainly something.

[founderinglight]

Absolutely wonderful, that's what.

[He's got it bad, Ardyn.]

[burninglight]

[real bad]

Now, stop that, you're starting to sound like me.

[founderinglight]

Deal with it.

[burninglight]

Very funny.

...Leonard has't given you too much trouble yet, has he? He didn't even realize who you were when you called me.

[founderinglight]

...

... ... ...

Alright, well, yours is indisputably the stupider one and I think Astolfo has forgotten some of his own abilities.

[burninglight]

...That bad, huh.

Well, I can't say that's a statement I can argue with.

[founderinglight]

Apparently something happens to him on moonless nights. ...He can't remember what.

[These are. Their idiots. That they have chosen.]

Anyway, no, he hasn't given me much trouble at all aside from being pointlessly a shit to my cat upon finding out that she's mine. Mind, we've only spoken the once.

[burninglight]

So he's probably a werewolf. Huh.

[not judging, mind you]

He's kind of a petty shithead like that sometimes. ...A lot of times.

[founderinglight]

Isn't that the reverse of what a werewolf does with the moon?

[Shrug. It's whatever as far as Izunia is concerned. Though he does have that cute little fang...]

I don't mind him being a shithead to me, but if he takes it out on Verity again there will be words. She's an innocent in all this who only wanted to sleep on your chest.

[burninglight]

Fine, maybe he's a werecat.

[A shrug.]

I really doubt he'd seriously hurt a cat just because he hates her owner. He's stupid, not cruel.

[founderinglight]

Not like I'd care, honestly.

There's a gradient between true cruelty and indifference that does include "just being kind of mean," though.

[burninglight]

I know he's not perfect--is he ever not perfect. But he's really not that bad, just....very overprotective.

[founderinglight]

I don't believe that you would ever love a bad person so deeply, Ardyn. A flawed one, yes, of course, all people are flawed to various extents. But not a bad one.

[burninglight]

I know he's abrasive, and loud, and that he speaks or acts well before he bothers to think. It's led us to argue plenty of times, and no doubt will again sooner or later.

But it also means he's straightforward in a way that can be vital in a crisis. He's at his worst when he's angry on another's behalf, and how can I truly fault him for that at its most basic even if it means I'm usually reining in what becomes an explosion? Which is frustrating, don't get me wrong--but even his flaws usually come from a place of good enough intentions. He hates you because we would both destroy everything that ever caused the other pain without a moment's hesitation. Because he cares too much for me and for our family, and feels the self-imposed obligation as Shield to protect me, Junpei, Yuuri, Heart, and all of us.

He's stubborn to a fault and beyond that; there wasn't a moment where he turned his back on me even when most sane people would have turned and bolted clear across the mansion the moment my eyes changed color. Even while he was falling apart just as badly, he swore up and down to pull out whatever there was of me that was still human.

[Ardyn curled his hand against his chest, yellow eyes distant.]

There was no one else in the mansion stupid enough to look at the Accursed and barely even flinch. No one else who would have been stubborn enough to offer it help, or kept being that thing's roommate without a trace of fear. He...made me want to be human again. Made me want to live because there was someone in that life worth living for.

He's an infuriating shithead to most everyone. But he's so much more than that, and no one knows him the way we do. The way I do. We're a flawed, broken pair in a flawed, broken family--the fact that he's so imperfect makes him perfect to me, even when I want to throw shit at him when he can't shut up.

[founderinglight]

...I know, Ardyn. When the pieces fit together just right, there's little else you can do but love them.

[He's still figuring out where his pieces lay, even as he's surprised that there is already someone there, filling in the gaps even before he reaches them.]

And for all that I told myself I wouldn't let such feelings sweep me up, here I am once more in the current. Even if this time I remember to breathe before diving in, what point is there in fighting it?

[He shakes his head slightly, expression fond.]

We both need the sort of tireless idiot who'll drag us out of despair as many times as it takes. But where you gave up on people, I gave up on happiness - on ever finding anything more than fleeting, on ever seeing a happy ending.

And much as I'm trying to fight it, it's a far easier battle with someone smiling at my side. I think it's as simple as that.

[burninglight]

It's hard to detest people when some of the best of them are right before you holding out their hands. I imagine it's much the same for finding happiness.

[founderinglight]

He'd drag me into joy whether I held out my hand or not. Just grab me by the arm and catch me when I inevitably stumble.

[burninglight]

A familiar sentiment if ever I heard one, certainly.

[founderinglight]

It's still a bit frightening, but the sort of fear I mind not at all. It's a reminder than I'm alive.

[A pause.]

Also, he's the perfect size to sit in my lap and cuddle with, so I positively cannot complain.