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Entry tags:
TDM 003
| TDM 003: #BEACHBUMS |
I. BEACH  Welcome arrivals, new and old! The skies on Erku may be perpetually gray, but the weather has taken a sudden turn to summertime heat. Fortunately, soaring temperatures have chased away more of the strange fog that conceals so much of the island, unveiling a charming, sandy cove dotted here and there with rustic love shacks. These shabby little lean-tos are dusty and sparse, but they provide everything one (or two, wink wink) might need for a little relief from the sun. Just don’t wander too far... that fog has memory-loss properties. II. DRINKS  The 'bots are very apologetic about the whole fog incident, and they are trying to get on the new arrivals' good sides by giving out fancy drinks. Of course, they still haven't mastered the art of making things properly, so each drink has a little something... extra.
III. SNACKS  Lo! As you ask, the Augur shall provide. Thanks to the efforts of your organic predecessors in restoring the planet’s Eros energy, edible fishes and seaweeds have returned to the ponds and the shores of Erku. If you fancy yourself savvy to basic survival skills, why not fashion up a fishing rod and catch yourself dinner? Just be careful if you happen to hook one of the octopus creatures from the deeper waters - they can be quite forward with their tentacles! Or, if primitive angling isn’t in your repertoire, you can always trade some credits for a tasty catch from one of the food stalls along the coast. Most stalls are manned by 'bots, but there’s nothing stopping an enterprising arrival from setting up shop. No credits? No problem! The robots have also provided a bit of entertainment, and any volunteers to man the kissing booth, get dunked in the wet t-shirt dunk tank, or grill up some fish - among other opportunities - will find credits automatically loaded onto the payment app of their bracelet devices. The 'bots are recruiting especially hard for participants to work in the gloryhole tent! IV. SPARKLES  As dusk descends, the white sands of the beach suddenly come alive with glittering lights. It’s as if the darkened waters have carried a thousand shining stars from the depths of the sea to the shores of the cove. In actuality, each little twinkle is a bioluminescent plankton or jellyfish! Feel free to wade among them and admire their shine; even the sting of the jellies won’t hurt you... though they do pack a different punch. The tentacles of the jellyfish elicit a powerful aphrodisiac response, which gets the heart racing and the blood pumping for an intimate touch. The effects come on within a matter of minutes, and last for a few hours. Only time will relieve the symptoms, but a partner will help to make it more bearable. N A V I G A T I O N |
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Is this real, he wonders, even when he grips a firm, solid weight. There's warmth under the fabric. This can't be real.
He can't see Ignis' scars. The ugly, angry splotch of red damaged skin over his left eye, the little notches of cuts here and there. He said his name immediately, like he sees him, but he shouldn't be able to. His scars are gone. Why are they gone? How is he able to see him? Why isn't he blind? This is wrong, Noctis thinks in a panic, because it's like looking at a ghost of his past. The Ignis he always knew. The one that has always been there for him. The one who would do anything for him. The one he couldn't protect. It's like the island is mocking him.
This is who you couldn't save, just by existing, just by living.
No. ]
Ignis?
[ This isn't right, but it's him. It's him, isn't it? It's really him. It couldn't be anyone else.
Noctis wants to call out his name again but he can't. His voice seizes in his throat.
Be real. Please be real.
He collides into Ignis' chest, arms wrapping around him, and Noctis squeezes tight.
He's warm.
(He left them all behind, suspended in time within a crystal, and he couldn't even tell Ignis good-bye. He couldn't tell him he was sorry. Ignis didn't get to see him, one last time.)
He's real. ]
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thinner. he's thinner now, and ignis' jaw tightens as he gives him a brief squeeze. ignis is real, untouched yet by the events that will unfold in his own future -- but even if he knows how it ends, ignis is entirely willing to do it all over again for his sake. after all, how can he not? his whole life is dedicated to noctis, devoted to caring for him -- to do otherwise is ultimately unthinkable.
he presses his face into the mop of unruly dark hair, a hundred thousand questions springing to the fore. how is he here, why is he thinner and darker, and why does he look like seeing him is such an impossible thing? ]
It's me.
[ he manages to assure him, low and quiet before he moves to look at him, frowning. ] You look different. How is that? I was with you up until a few hours ago.
[ protecting him, ready to put on the ring for his sake -- if only to buy noctis another day. ]
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Just stay here, stay, as long as possible, regardless of how bizarre it must look for these two grown men to be embracing at the edge of the water like this. But who even cares? It's none of their business.
Ignis speaks again and Noctis hides the pain of his expression into Ignis's broad chest and the warmth of his shirt. He can't smell the hints of his cologne or any soap, the dust that clings in Cartanica's air, the muggy heat in that swamp, the metallic chill inside Zegnautas Keep, but somehow he still smells like him.
He turns his head and lets his cheek settle against him instead, and he thinks he can hear Ignis' heartbeat. His eyes close as he relishes in the sound. ]
I've been here, maybe a month, or two? The place is... it's something else.
[ There's so much he's going to have to tell him, bizarre explanations and descriptions of things he'll need to get used to, and then he's not quite sure what to do about everything else. Like why Ignis can see him, why his scars are gone, and how long ago is "a few hours".
I missed you, nearly spills from his lips, but he can't say it. ]
I'm okay though. Prompto and Gladio are here with me. We tried looking for you, but never found you, so we thought you just... weren't here.
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[ ignis confirms softly, a hand coming, after a moment, to splay over noctis' back as he keeps him anchored, the other resting lightly on the back of his head. noctis burrows into him like he's desperate for comfort, for the familiar, and he understands instinctively that noctis isn't lying, that he really hasn't seen him in a month or two.
his prince, who isn't normally this tactile, would have never been like this if they had merely missed each other by a few hours. which, of course, lends credence to something much more chilling: that time moves differently here (and why not, right, because how is that more bizarre than being transported into another world?), and he gives him a quiet squeeze, in turn reassuring himself, too, that noctis is fine.
he's fine, unhurt, and as he gathers his wits about him -- surely someone has to, if they are to figure a way out of this world -- he pulls away only a little, gently tipping noctis' chin up to look at him.
gods, but he really has become thinner. what has this place done to him and the others? it's scant relief that prompto and gladio are here with him, because if they were suffering the same... ]
Tell me everything, please.
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His confidence seems endless when Ignis is with him, like this, assured and strong with that intent, focused gaze of his. The look in his eyes he missed so, so much.
It's easier now to offer that soft, understanding smile, as his arms loosen and finally detach to settle at Noctis' sides. ]
Yeah. I can't let my advisor miss a single detail, right?
[ He clutches Ignis' arm as he takes a step back, offering the space Ignis might need but still unwilling to part from him. With a quick look around, he remembers those shacks scattered around the beach. There's a tug, gesturing he's ready to get going. ]
C'mon, we can talk on dry land instead. The jellyfish are a little distracting.
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[ even if the entire place is foreign to him, the fact of the matter is that noctis -- and the others -- is here, and is therefore a good starting point for him to orient himself around. nevermind that this entirely new world is like nothing he's ever seen, or that ignis is feeling way too warm under the collar, inexplicably craving the need to touch, to stay close to noctis.
is it an effect of whatever it is that he'd touched earlier? he doesn't quite know, but ignis feels better when noctis takes his arm, his hand resting on noctis' own in quiet assurance. following after him after a beat, he exhales. ]
The jellyfish seem... strange. Is everything in this world this odd?
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I mean, we've dealt with weirder, but there's stuff back home I'd definitely prefer to deal with than what goes on here on the island.
[ Like he will gladly take on three Bandersnatch than deal with one more aphrodisiac-laced food or harmless plant or creature that decides to give him a raging boner in 15 seconds. (Ignis will learn this preference soon, in like, a few minutes most likely.) ]
So the place is called the Nameless City, it's entirely deserted but we only just started getting new buildings and nicer stuff showing up. We got plants a couple weeks ago, monsters too, and there's a public bath and a gym. Aside from the people that arrive here like you and me, there's just robots. Not like Magitek-level but a lot of stuff relies on the robots. They're kinda like workers, I guess? There's a hospital with a cafeteria they make food in. They also bring around rations but those can't usually be trusted.
[ Noctis wonders if he should slow down or wait until they get to the lean-to, but he knows Ignis can manage to jot this all down mentally, so he continues. ]
There's this sorta sentient being called The Augur that's pretty much the boss of the whole operation. It's not a person, not a robot, kinda just... exists? You can talk to it but a lot of what it says doesn't make much sense. But you go to The Augur when you want things.
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he gives his hand a squeeze when he holds it, curious at how noctis seems to want to curl closer to him, but with the pleasant feelings this is causing deep in his chest, ignis certainly doesn't want to question it. he wants to be closer, he wants to hold him tight and not let go, and unconsciously he presses up even nearer, so that they're shoulder to shoulder.
oddly enough, it doesn't seem to sate the new, creeping desire that coils inside him like a snake. ]
Things like items you need to survive? What about food that doesn't have anything laced in it?
[ and hey! they're about to reach noctis' abode. ]
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Yeah, basically anything you can't already find on the island, food, clothes, a place to stay in, anything, you ask The Augur. Honestly it's the safest way to get normal food too.
[ It's a walk, but once the sand is gone from under them and it turns into downtrodden grass they reach what appears to be like the exterior of a caravan.
Noctis takes them up the first few steps and opens the door, then tugs Ignis inside. As expected, his bed is unmade (again, like every day), there's dirty dishes in the sink and it smells a bit like.... fish. There's a basket he uses for trash and it's currently pretty full of fish bones. But Noctis doesn't even flinch at what is possibly to come of Ignis' scrutiny as he lets go of his hand but nudges him toward the bed so he can sit. ]
Do you want water? You hungry? I've got leftover fish sandwiches from this morning. I don't really keep anything other than fish...
[ Thus the smell. ]
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the entire place smells like fish, the place unmade, and ignis makes a quiet little noise before he hurriedly goes to the sink, inspecting it and automatically washing the dishes. ]
No, it's fine. I packed away some skewered fish I made earlier.
[ ignis says absently, before tugging it out of his inventory and handing the three carefully wrapped skewers of seasoned and barbecued fish over to him. he opens the windows next to let the air in, and he frowns at the bin thoughtfully. ]
Let's share them once I'm done. Yes?
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Really, it's just nice to see Ignis be Ignis again. So much changed after Altissia.
He still needs to figure that out, what Ignis knows, what he remembers. Why he's not blind, and doesn't have his scars, but Noctis can't bring himself to ask those questions yet. ]
Yeah, sure.
[ Noctis steps away and over to the bed where he takes a seat on the rumpled sheets, watching Ignis silently, calm, resisting the urge to start devouring one of the skewers. Gods, he can't wait to have his cooking. Just the smell of them is already amazing, ten times better than anything Noct's been able to put together by just putting a few of his catches on a stick and shoving them over an open fire. ]
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so he does the dishes and takes out the trash, fussing around him before there's nothing left to clean up, the windows opened to let fresh air in. more importantly, it gives him things to do; it grounds him, makes him feel less useless in the general scheme of things.
finally, however, he turns back to his prince. beloved, safe, and it's easy how that feeling comes back again, that profound longing to touch and hold him. ignis swallows down that urge, but he steps closer than usual and reaches out to where he's sitting, fingers lightly touching his jawline as his heart clenches. ]
Noct. You look thinner.
[ quiet. pained. ]
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Even without saying a single thing, the evidence is there, all in front of Ignis. He hates hurting him in any way. ]
Y-yeah... um... I guess I never noticed. No one ever said anything. Maybe so things could try to feel normal, and not as shitty as they were. The first month here, there was barely anything. Nowhere to stay. No food. Just rations that tasted like crap and barely got you through the week, and then we learned not to trust the food. So even if you wanted to eat and the option was there it was just too risky.
[ Sex doesn't sustain a human being. Even when you ate the meager rations and were hit with the proceeding aphrodisiacs, it'd just result in more fatigue, more exhaustion than you already felt by that point because of lack of food, lack of nutrients.
Noctis won't tell Ignis how bad it was, worse than the explanation he gives. That you'd starve, and you'd be tired, and you'd barely have the energy to do anything. No electricity, no running water, no shelter. Nothing but the clothes on your back. So he'd do the only thing he could do: sleep, and sleep, and sleep. Even when his stomach ached, and his head hurt, and his hands would start shaking. All he could really do was try to hang in there for Gladio and Prompto. And sleep. And miss Ignis, every day.
He holds up a skewer for Ignis to take, the tiniest smile upon his face. ]
C'mon, sit. Let's eat.
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he frowns, brows knitting as he digests everything that's possibly happened for noctis to come to this kind of conclusion. he sits down next to him with a quiet sigh, gesturing to him to eat up, eat up. his noctis, drawn and thinner than he remembers, tormented by this godsforsaken world. he wants so desperately to hold him, to keep him safe, warm and fed. noctis smiles, small and sweet and something like him again, and ignis itches to take him into his arms and keep him there. ]
I've eaten some before this. [ ignis tells him softly -- it's true, he's not hungry, and in the state that noctis is in, ignis would rather give it all to him. gods. ]
From what I know, these particular fish are... safe. I imagine it's an exception to the norm.
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(But that's what Ignis has done a lot of, hasn't he? Made sacrifice after sacrifice. For him.)
Noctis shoves the thought aside and simply responds by rolling his eyes and taking a nice big bite of one skewer, mumbling with his mouth full just to spite his overly considerate advisor. ]
You're so damn stubborn. All the more for me then I guess.
[ Which fills him with guilt, and he knows for sure he needs to keep an eye on Ignis too, make sure he takes care of himself.
...shit, the skewer tastes so good. He takes another bite before he even finishes chewing. He's still talking with his mouth full. ]
Yeah, I got a feeling the fish aren't dangerous. There's a pond close by with some fish in it and nothing's ever happened when I eat anything from there. So, I've just sorta been living off of fish for the past few weeks.
[ Another bite, but this time he does at least chew, swallow, then speaks up with more gusto in his voice already, like all it took was a few bites of good food to get his spirits up and going again. ]
Not to put the pressure on you, but... I'm really looking forward to the first thing you cook. That isn't fish.
[ He waggles a skewer for emphasis, then finishes up the one he's hastily devouring in order to move on to the next. ]