hugtopia | 02: insert creative title here

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[ There is no longer the warmth of someone beside her when she rises, no arm around her, no shoulder for her head to be tucked into, no quiet breath she can hear, no soft rhythm of a heartbeat she can feel beneath her palm, no trace of a magic and light that feels as if she's bathed in the stars. There is no greeting with soft, quiet eyes and and an even softer touch, careful, caring, no murmur of her name. No feeling of acceptance, no slow rise thereafter, no touch in return to correct a strand of her hair with warm fingers lingering upon her cheek.

Instead there is emptiness as deep and overwhelming as the sea, perplexing, disorienting, storming, and cold. She peers into its maelstrom and knows that she ought to be there beneath it all, surrounding her, sealing her. That is the tomb she had chosen for herself for centuries, after all, basking in the safety of emptiness thus keeping the world safe in turn. How can emptiness feel so heavy and crippling, as if she's never experienced it before? Has she learned nothing?

No, she has learned something. It is the same lesson she has learned before-- ]

For those of his family and Eos, and for those of you who knew him, Somnus is no longer in Havenwell. I may only hope that he has returned to his homeworld in peace.

Please, let's all work together more to restore this world, so that perhaps those of us who wish to return to our worlds may also have the opportunity to return.

[ --that she must do what is necessary to secure the future of her world. She must return to her world. To return where she must be, to return to the state she had originally been in, to return to her Father and beg him for peace at last. Somnus has returned to his world, thereby ensuring its future. She has not forgotten that she, too, has the very same duty. Her love and her loss, this hollowness, this numbness-- she knows, she knows, it is painful, guilty; she ought not harbor any of these feelings. Yet terribly against her nature as it may be to experience emotions at all, they have one use in their turmoil and admiration for the world and all those in it: that they are reminding her, inspiring her to do what must be done to ensure that the future of her world remains. ]

A: Falconing. Morning.

He's gone, little partner. We are sorry. [ It's only Horus to whom she murmurs, the falcon unwittingly left behind by man who owned it. Presently the raptor is perched upon her arm, and she carefully strokes along the side of its neck as it turns its head side to side, seemingly awaiting a command. With a slight lift of her hand it takes flight, and a few moments later she tosses up bait for it to take.

To anyone watching her, she appears at peace. She is smiling and calm, watching the bird glide throughout the dilapidated buildings of the city. It circles her, awaiting its next morsel, and she throws another treat-- farther this time, and it dives after it.

It does not seem as if she notices that you may be approaching her. This may be odd to those who know her well enough to have noticed how normally attentive she is to her surroundings. ]

B: Returning from the Labs, Evening
[ For those of her who have known her throughout these months, they may also know by now that she is not shy to engage in contact.

Nothing has changed on that front, and so when you happen to join her on one of the streets, she will greet you with a pleasant, serene smile. As is also typical. ] Oh, are you heading this same way...?

[ Have a hand offered to you, fingers outstretched. Should you take it, her grip is light. To those who have taken her hand often before, this may seem odd. ] Let's walk together.

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[ She does not so much as move when he approaches, sending Horus off into flight again when he sits down beside her. She's smiling, still, and when he takes her hand her touch is slow to respond to reinforce their touch.

It's only after a few moments that her fingers curl into the gaps between his, tighten, then loosen a moment after. ] Eos hopefully has an Orcale and king returned. [ She asks quietly, ]

But, how... are you feeling?

[ Two losses of his family within a short period of time^{(Luna! counts!)}, gone back to his world. Who else can the world take from him? She can't possibly imagine; she's sorry he must hear this news from someone not even of his world. ]

[He waits to see how she responds, and when she holds his hand back, he gives hers a gentle squeeze. The mention of Luna has him tense a little, but she's not wrong, so he says nothing. At least when he goes back he has the possibility of seeing her again; Pyra doesn't have that luxury.

Still.]

Feel like crap. How about you?

[ She knows as well has he does that he may be able to return to a world where the both of them are. Even knowing that, he still admits to feeling awful. Naturally, that they are not here with him at present isn't comforting, not when he has no control over when he might be able to return to his own world.

Then he asks after her, and she doesn't have an answer. Her gaze falls, turns, and she looks back out towards the city. ]

I am not sure.

[ In turmoil. Dizzying; if she had lungs, she wonders if this is what it would feel like to not be able to breathe. Her voice, however, is oddly detached. ] Guilty, perhaps.

[ She closes her eyes, letting out a breath. She sure sounds calm. ] I told him before, you know. That he should have been living with--.... those of Eos. It does not seem right, that your family learns of his disappearance this way. [ From an outsider.

It should have been Noctis. Or Regis or Ardyn. Anyone of Eos, really. Precious moments he could have had with his family in a world that provided the opportunity to do so, and she took that from them. How dare she. ]

Edited 2020-03-30 20:52 (UTC)

..Mm.

[Sounds like something she'd say, yeah. She's made similar comments often enough- asking if he should be spending time with someone else, or playing a game with someone else, or even if he'd rather be training instead of goofing off or working on their game, all so he can be stronger for his world. Like what they're doing doesn't matter as much. Like she doesn't matter as much.

He's not an idiot- the element shared between all of those strange queries is her, the worth of her company in comparison to whatever else happens to come up. And here it is again.]

What did he say?

[ The answers come to her unbidden, recent memories flashing through her mind of him, of his voice, deep and tender and spoken with a hushed intensity as if he too ought not admit them for the world to hear or that the very words were blasphemous.

For a long moment she says nothing as her shoulders tense, and her bottom lip turns white from how tightly she bites it. Then, she speaks. Her voice is trembling.

"I would have you at my side," he had said. They had been descending a mountain, turning away from a faded memory and looking towards the future. ] I would have you at my side.

[ "That I wish to stay." How long had she attempted to ask him what he feels only to be met with silence or dismissals that his feelings were not necessary, insignificant. How long had she watched him seem as if he slowly and slowly became distant over the months here, nearing silence at the end. His time in this world had involved some sort of suffering, a toll upon his already burdened mind. She does not know all the reasons why. Then at last when he had shared something of what he felt, he had said this specifically to her: ] That I wish to stay.

[ Something had given way with those words finally spoken, a kiss, two kisses, more finally shared. Then for one month she had seen him content at last. Her breath cracks, and she closes her eyes tightly, head dipping low. ]

[He can practically imagine it in Somnus's voice, serious and solemn and difficult to read, but so often conveying an earnest message so rarely found in people. He said little, but he meant what he said. Noctis didn't take particular joy in his ancestor's company, that wasn't the nature of their relationship as far as he knew. What he felt from it was comfort- that he was cared for, that he was important. That he was allowed to be himself, that his destiny would come for him when it was time and not before. And he tried to offer some comfort back, even if Somnus never seemed to need it: that he'd purge the darkness and free the souls trapped within the ring, so the world and their family could finally know peace. Somnus represented many things for him, but more than anything else, a need to right the wrongs of the past, and hope for the future.

Noctis uses their joined hands to tug Pyra closer, winding his free arm around her to hold her close in a hug. His hand loosens around her a little, if she wants to let go and make it a proper one, or if she refuses him and pushes him away- he'll accept whatever she chooses. But her tone of voice, so rarely vulnerable this way, tells him this is better.]

When I got here I moved in with Prompto, you know, not my dad or Ardyn. Family's more than blood, it's more than the same country or the same world. It's who we choose. Every day it can change, if we want, so every day it's a choice.

[He says it without regret; even now, knowing how those he loves can vanish or fall ill in an instant, he's still living in that house he'd made into something of a home with his best friend. Even though waking alone in that same bed is agony, even though his father had fallen asleep that very same day and he'd only heard about it through Cor. Even then. Because he's happy there, because he feels warm and welcome. And in part because Prompto would be alone if he left- as Pyra would be, if Somnus did. And they all know what it feels like to be alone, so why would they force that feeling upon someone they care about, so unnecessarily?]

He chose you. Every day, he chose you. You've got nothing to feel guilty about.

[ She had once asked Prompto what it is that makes a family. Trusting them, loving them, doing anything for them. She had trusted Somnus, she had loved him. He had done the same. But the last criteria, of doing anything for the other, anything? They would not do anything for each other, but they would do anything for either of their worlds' futures, whether good or bad, and that is what had grown into a respect, acceptance, and understanding between them. Perhaps that is what made them a family in the end...

What a presumptuous thought, yet Noct insists that it is true. And if it is true, then the reality is all the more tragic: she had family with Somnus. For one month she had which she never experience before, and now she has none. Which is worse, denying it had existed or that acknowledging that it is gone? There may be no answer she might readily give, only that she knows she shouldn't have had the opportunity of either in the first place.

How lovely those feelings had been while they lasted, how painful they are now. To think that this is what humanity lives through so often, feeling something like this. It's-- beautiful and terrifying, like lightening webbing across a dry desert sky. It's torture as well, each time those words of his repeat in her mind and for fleeting moment afterwards she can hear them as if he is there, but it's only an illusion, a dream, another memory to add to the millions of years'worth of them she already has behind her.

She's forgotten so much of years past. Will she eventually forget him too? She does not wish to. --Ah, another wish, another want. How dare she. ]

[ Throughout these thoughts, his hug has remained one-sided. After what seems like an eternity, her head lowers to his shoulder.

He chose you.

Her freed hand rises to his upper arm....

Every day, he chose you.

...then to his chest, where her fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt, knuckles balling white as a faint tremble shakes through her shoulders. It's still not a proper embrace, weak and vulnerable as she is. Words stagger from her lips in a choked whisper as if it is painful to admit them aloud and speaking of emotions at all is tearing apart a foundation that's already strained and broken, barely able to hold itself together. But with this, she concedes to the loss of what she had gained, briefly, in this final month: ]

It...was.... wonderful. To have had him as family.

[He grimaces at the sound; he's not used to hearing her like this, normally so unruffled by most things. She grieves for others, but has he ever seen her grieve for herself? So closed off and secretive... this is a first. To call what he feels to see it relief is inaccurate, as there's no relief to be taken from her distress or the disappearance of Somnus. Still, there's something to this, something he can't name, to see her let herself feel this pain. In order to hurt or to feel loss, you had to have gained something worse missing, before. What she had with Somnus was deeper than any of them are likely to know, and it's tangible, made manifest by her stumbling voice and trembling shoulders.

He holds fast to her, fingers brushing through her hair and down her back, resting his cheek against her head. He won't let go unless she does, intent on offering her what comfort he can as long as she needs.]

I know it's not the same thing, but... his family is our family. [And she's more than earned that place, in his mind.] We're here for you.

[They can't replace him, they can't be what he was for her. He knows better than to try or make such offers, and he'd never want to, anyway, shared features be damned. Even so, it's important that she knows she's not alone.]

[ It would be a mercy to distance herself from him, to stay in an empty house with only flowers and a falcon to remember Somnus by. (She must stay, however. She must stay, because she hopes that contact will eventually restore the world and send her back on her way to her own.) Yet it hurts thinking of returning to their residence, it hurts knowing no hand to hold in comfortable quietness will be there, no acceptance. It hurts more because she had grown used to company, irresponsibly complacent in there being another with her, daring to believe and accept that he had cared for her, and now it hurts that she must return to emptiness instead. It hurts knowing that that is the way it should be to begin with. It hurts like knives and frostbite raking across her skin.

For a moment, she goes completely still at his words.

He says this without knowing who or what she is, and of course he doesn't know, she hasn't told him-- or anyone-- much of anything. He doesn't know what she's done to her world, he doesn't know what she's planning to do, he doesn't know who she has hurt. Him saying that she has a family with them... is unbelievably short-sighted. The Lucian line is bound after death to his ring, whether by their patron god or the crystal itself. While she hadn't taken an entire royal line, she had taken one into her to deny him from passing, and conscripting one is enough to mark her inhumanity. She might justify it any which way that it is necessary to save her world that she would bind the soul of someone to potentially aid her, but she knows the cruelty of it. Yet, she does this anyway. Had she been a god of his world instead, there is no doubt in her mind that she would mark their family with the same tragic suffering if it meant saving the future of their world.

He believes her to be good, and the greatest cruelty is that she continues to allow him to believe it out of her own selfish fear. If she says she doesn't deserve to be a part of his family, he would ask why. She is not ready to answer. She does not deserve this, yet she must accept. She wants to accept.

(And more than that, she wants to be worthy of that acceptance.)

Somehow, Somnus had accepted her despite knowing so much. He had told her he had met her in another world, that the cause there had not been about touch, but bonds. It was because of that that she told a few of her secrets. Here the gods are far more merciful: they only seek an offering of touch, not truth. If she told any truth to Noctis... How can she embrace him, knowing that she would hurt him if necessary?

Her face remains buried against the crook of his neck. Her body remains close, but only barely reciprocating the embrace as if she’s on the edge of staying or leaving, dueling with an impossibly difficult choice of what she wishes for and what she believes would be better for all, only complicated by the fact that this world demands contact to preserve its life... and that his comfort, his words, his reassurance, his light somehow impossibly provides some ease to the despair within. How did she slip so far? Not in terms of straying from what she knows what she must do in order to preserve the future of her own world— she’d never abandon that— but in terms of how much she is able to feel. ]

N-Noct...

[ With his name spoken, he’ll finally feel a wetness upon his shoulder as tears finally begin to fall in silence.

What he’s reassured her of a family is overwhelming. All of this is overwhelming: having love, having lost it, knowing that she need only focus upon returning to her world.... and, simultaneously, feeling relief that Somnus may have returned to his own world where he might eventually know peace. And so what else might she do but hold him despite the dueling conflict and reassurance she feels, unable to move because of it. ]

Edited 2020-03-31 20:58 (UTC)

[When she goes still against him, he's not sure at first if it was the right thing to say. He'd hoped, of course, worriedly. Sometimes people can be funny about family, about the word itself and all the implications attached. And he can imagine that she, so careful, so distant, so secretive- she might not necessarily welcome those words from just anyone. Wonderful, she'd said, to be a family with Somnus. To be at his side, to be chosen. Somnus was stoic and blunt but he had his own way of caring; Noctis would like to believe that he too found it wonderful, unspoken or otherwise. He's done so much for so long, endured all that waiting, guided their family onwards well past his death. Despite his mistakes he'd deserved that, at least. Some happiness, some peace.

Pyra, too. He can't know what she's done or endured, he can barely guess based on what she's let slip or implied, the small snippets of knowledge she'd given him, willingly or otherwise. But she'd understood Somnus, or at least that's how it seemed. Kindred spirits in some unfathomable way that Noctis will probably never know the depth of. He can feel the unease in her body language, the difference between how she holds him now versus any other time. Like a frightened beast in his arms, uncertain of whether or not he's safe.

She stays, though. She's not sure, but she stays. He hopes that she can take comfort in that. He feels tears on his skin and his arms tighten a little, wordlessly acknowledging it- accepting it. Her, and her grief, and whatever else she needs to feel right now. Has he ever seen her cry for herself before? For her own feelings or loss or pain? So much of what she does is for others, but this, this small (incredibly deserved and necessary) act is where she struggles. He wished he knew why. Wants to ask, but doesn't want to upset her or, more likely, force her to hide or lie, or to smile in that elusive way she does. He files it away again and he wonders how big that mental folder will get before it all spills out.

She'd done this for him, when Luna vanished, while his father lay sick and sleeping. He's not keeping score, but he can return the favour without hesitation, not because he owes her but because that's what a friend should do. He may lack her gentle touch, but he has two working shoulders for crying on, two arms to hold. And he'll be here as long as she needs, clumsy and quiet, stroking her hair and listening to her while she weeps.]

[ Her grief is silent, scared, frail. Wounded, like something is consuming her from the inside out. It hurts, and it compounds... Yet despite this fleeting moment of grief, it does not permanently cripple her. It moves her.

When the continents fell, when she lost what she loved before, she did not hesitate to decide and to do what was necessary to ensure the world would be safe... no matter what toll it took. Here in Alleyn that behavior remains consistent. The proof is in her actions (and call to action), how instead of pushing him away, she had asked for presence, his hand. She has not forgotten all of which she’s learned from Somnus, and bright, righteous was his path in following the future instead of remaining stagnant, consumed.

Just like her love for others, loss reminds her of what she wishes to protect. The future is where salvation lies for all, whether that be her reverting to what she once was or oblivion. Moving forward is what she must do now— no, it is the only direction in which she can move, following the path to the future as naturally as entropy. The light is bright there, and she need only keep focus to follow it all the way to her homeworld. She does not know what will happen when she returns. She does not know if begging her Father for release will be granted, or if all of her the corruption of humanity will be stripped from her, but she must try.

Thus, this display, this comfort, is... more than enough. More than she can ever ask for from Noctis, and more than she has any right having to indulge. He accepts this of her, he is here for her. An embrace like this is more than she’s ever had. It’s kind. Too kind. It’s tempting to stay. Her hand tightens upon his chest—

Just like that, it’s over. Her tears have slowed, but her voice remains hollow.

She should not be alone. ]

....You... are so kind, Noct. Thank you.

[He makes an indiscernible noise at that, acknowledging, but not quite agreeing. It's such a little thing, and it's pitiful that even this much can be a struggle for him sometimes. What kind of friend would he be if he couldn't do at least this for her when she needs it? He just wants to help her. Gods, he hopes this helps her. There's no perfect way to unravel and mend the pain she's in, he knows that well, and it might be impossible to truly satisfy the ache she's feeling. But she deserves to still enjoy things, too, to feel joy and peace and satisfaction. One can't exist only in misery.]

Whatever you need, okay? Just say so. Or... [He purses his lips, hesitant, but following his instincts, the signs and hints he's been trying to collect over time. The patterns she's left for him.] Or find a way to show me, somehow. If you can't say it.

[And he won't ask, but... there are things she can't say, aren't there? He doesn't know what those limits are, and maybe explaining herself is one of them. Either way, it's fine. If they help each other, they can navigate the issue together.]

[ ...So very kind. Just look at how he offers whatever she might need, to just say it, ask for it. Or to show him, if she cannot say it.

They are already in contact. This is enough, that's all that is necessary. She pulls back from the embrace, just enough to raise her eyes to look at him. His are a clear blue; hers, misty from tears.

She offers a spiritless smile. ]

This touch... is all I need.

[She looks like a mess, but she's still smiling- a smile as forced as one can get. Rather than returning it, he brushes his thumb across her cheek, catching whatever wetness is still there in the fabric of his brace, and shakes his head. A gentleman would have a handkerchief or something, like some old-timey nobility. (Someone like Somnus.) This is all he has.]

I don't think that's all, but... you've got it, if that's what you want.

[ She feels his thumb brush beneath her eye, wiping at the wetness upon it. The first time she ever shed tears had been five hundred years ago. What a shock that had been, knowing that the form she took could produce such a human reaction. It is a shock now-- not the tears, for she's cried on behalf of others a good amount, without guilt-- but his hand there, enough that her own hand leaves his chest. It raises to slide her fingers over his upon her cheek, pressing down his palm as if his touch soothes a still-stinging strike.

He is correct to assume that that is not all; there are so many selfish wants within her that she's shocked at how many there had been gathering up until now. Wants like-- not wanting to be left alone. Wants like wanting to be among others, wants like wanting to freely feel as she pleases, to walk among humans, to show and to prove that she cares for them, to love them, to love them.

Her other hand raises to his cheek. It seems that she's searching his face, but finds nothing. ] You give us so much already.

Edited 2020-04-03 19:22 (UTC)

[There it is again- us. Even his dad doesn't use the "royal we" speech pattern. Hell, he doesn't know anyone who does, and she speaks this way so inconsistently he can't help thinking it's a mistake she doesn't mean to reveal. He shouldn't ask, probably. This isn't the time or the place.

But. But. She's already hiding, and she knows it, and he knows it, and she shouldn't have to. He opens his mouth, closes it, then murmurs,]

Who else is in there?

[ --A mistake. As usual, when she's overwhelmed with emotions, she slips and lets secrets through.

She shakes her head, her lips forming a wistful smile. It looks as if it takes effort for her to look at him, to speak. ]

Us, as in... everyone here.

[ She settles back from the embrace; but then, her hand takes his off of her cheek, and she lowers hers from his to clasp over it as well. With their hands held between them, she gives his a squeeze in a way that's probably meant to be reassuring.

She blinks once. ] Everyone you meet, Noctis. [ She blinks twice, feeling a new wetness fall over her cheeks even as she smiles, eye bright with sorrow and appreciation. Her expression appears overwhelmed with this gratefulness, but it's burying something within. Her tears could easily be of joy and comfort, just as much as they could be from a leak from the seal of thankfulness beneath which she attempts to bury all else.

It's a tactic she's used before for herself. Be appreciative of what she has now. And acknowledge what she has. See how wonderful it is, the friend she has made, the other bonds she has, the amount of people she's gotten to know, the wondrous reality that she's able to walk among them at all. This, this is what she has. What right does she have to sorrow, when she has so much unwarranted good happening to her already? ] You give so much to all. I am.... happy, Noct, just to have met you. And to have known you as a friend.

[Another evasion, then, another lie. He's not surprised, though, as it's what he'd expected. He purses his lips for a moment, glancing off to the side, noting the way she squeezes his hands, the way she talks- like he's the one who needs comfort now, like reassuring him is the priority. That in itself as well is not unusual, but that doesn't make it right.

He twines their fingers together, squeezing back. He doesn't have to pry right now, but he doesn't have to accept her entirely at her word, either.]

I'm happy to help everyone here.

[His tone is quiet and pointed, gaze focused on her, just her. Everyone here, right here, including whoever this elusive "us" might be. She can lie if she wants, if it's what she has to do, and that's okay. He can't force her, much as he'd like to understand the truth.

But he knows it, now.]

And if there's anything else... whatever it is, any time, just say it. I'll listen.

[ They cannot be alone. That is not how this world works, and to retreat into solitude like some mortal's flight instinct would not serve this world or their own purpose. Galvanized by grief to do what is necessary, she'll continue on her path. It goes against knowing that they truly shouldn't be walking this land with others, but the end goal necessitates moving along with the future, no matter how painful it is or fearful she is of feeling more. And how strained it is to continue to smile, how walls only continue to be reinforced around her.

Those walls are necessary. He's holding the hand of something divine and deadly. She can picture him as ash fluttering like snow from her palms: there, then not. Always, there, then not. The imagery strikes a cord of fear within her, and her fingers flinch against his. ]

I'm moving forward, Noct. It is the only way to go. [ For others, she would encourage that they might look upon the past and draw strength. For herself, she has no right.

Unfortunately, she will not say anything without encouragement from another. How dare she admit that she is hurt. He is the priority. Others are always the priority to comfort. This isn't about her, she's not even part of their family, not technically speaking. What of the others, what of Noctis' thoughts, what of Ardyn's? How can she distract Noctis from going to someone who may need his comfort more than herself? ]

What will you do now?

[Moving forward... the only way to go. That's familiar. And not wrong, either- there's no going back, as much as any of them might long for it. Regrets won't drag Somnus back to this place, or Luna for that matter, and he wouldn't wish that on them as it isn't his call to make. They have lives of their own to live, or duties to perform, or, in the case of Somnus, rest already earned. It's up to them to carry on from here.

At her question, he shifts position to face forward and reaches out his arm, the free hand with the brace, so Horus can come back for another hunt if he wishes, or rest his wings a bit. Give Pyra's arm a break as well. His answer comes without hesitation.]

What I'm already doing, obviously. Hold your hand.

[She can cry, or share her thoughts, or change the subject if she wants. Doesn't matter to him; what matters is her, what she needs. His company is hers for a while yet.]

[ And for that, she's grateful.

Horus descends as soon as he spots the outstretched arm, landing upon Noctis' bracer with a flutter of his wings. He tilts his head left and right, beak open. Noctis is not Somnus.

Pyra reaches out to the falcon, lifting a finger to stroke along the softer feathers just along his neck for a moment, reinforcing praise for returning. It is inevitable that the falcon will reminds her of Somnus, and she's sure she will think of him when she sees deep blue sylleblossoms. There is no helping it. No matter where she goes, she'll find traces of him here, there, or anywhere, the memories pricking like needles to her skin...

Feel like crap, he admitted. She can't focus on just herself. It's too difficult, and although speaking about Somnus is as well, she wants to be sure that Noctis is alright. ]

Do.. you want to talk? About Somnus. He was your ancestor, after all.

[He gives a noncommittal hum, holding his arm steady as she pets Horus, his gaze shifting between the falcon and her, recalling what Somnus had said about interacting with the bird.]

I could. Don't know what to say, though... you knew him better than I did.

[An invitation, if she wants to talk about him. A bond had been forged there, something indecipherable to him but at the same time clear as day.]

[ After one last pet, she sits back. He is free to tend to Horus, idle.

As for Pyra, she tilts her head to the side, a movement that causes her earrings to sway and catch the morning light.

"Knew him better than I did"-- ] ...Even though you have the ring?

[ Doesn't it lend some sort of soul connection to the old kings? Perhaps all of their voices are too loud still for him. Come to think of it, they've been neglecting that aspect of their training... which is fine. He has experienced too much lately. ]

[Ah... right. The ring. He purses his lips.]

I've never talked to the one in the ring. Not him, or my dad. It felt weird to try- they were here, real people I could greet and see and...

[Even now, with Somnus gone, the thought of doing so feels wrong. Like going behind the man's back, prying without permission. That's not the same Somnus who held his hand and offered him such solemn advice, who ventured out into the storm with him, who gifted to them the Regalia and to Noct, his mysterious sigil, for no other reason than he wished to.

He lifts their joined hands a few inches.]

This is better, right? Than using the communicator to call?

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