gurabad | 023 » these shallow waters never met what i needed

[She's wary of him, and rightfully so. While Ardyn doesn't particularly care if she actually trusts him or not, getting her to safety will be a great deal easier if she does. So he puts on a smile, equal parts charming and unsettling.]

That I am not. I was just here to watch the signing...

[He tucks his sword away under his many layers instead of dismissing it. She'd be suspicious right away if he showed those sorts of abilities.]

...but I had a feeling it might not go as planned, so I armed myself just in case. Perhaps a gun would have been more efficient, but in a crowd they have a nasty tendency to hit the wrong target. I wouldn't want that.

[That's not at all true. He wouldn't mind that at all, he just prefers to take out his targets at close range. Ardyn sweeps off his hat, offering her a bow.]

Ardyn, at your service. You're evacuating as well, aren't you? It would behoove us to stick together.

Edited 2017-02-08 01:31 (UTC)

[iris doesn't buy his explanation for a second. a man who just happened to have a sword on hand? yeah, right. he has to be someone important, someone politically involved. he feels vaguely familiar; has she seen him before...?

there are few things more repulsive to a fifteen-year-old girl than a middle-aged man wearing a gaudy hat, but iris isn't really in a position to be picky about the kind of help she receives right now. she feels faintly sick, particularly because something about his earlier comment is starting to sink in (a young girl like you should be more aware of her surroundings... like someone's going to snatch her up or something?)

something about this ardyn makes her feel as though she's covered in slime.

but she's in no position to say anything like why don't you try helping someone who actually needs it? — so she musters a slightly pained smile in return, tensing her hands at her sides.]

Um... yeah. Nice... to meet you. I'm Iris.

[another explosion conveniently rocks the citadel. iris winces at the sound.]

I'm Iris, and we should go.

[Whether she senses the daemons lurking within him or she just has good instincts, Iris clearly doesn't believe a word he's saying. Good — she'll be more likely to survive with an attitude like that once they've parted. Whether she believes in him or not, he'll see her safely delivered out of this chaos. Ardyn can be so very dependable when he chooses to be.]

Of course. Shall I take point?

[He doesn't wait for her answer. He spins on his heel, the many layers he covers himself in twirling dramatically with the movement. Ardyn starts forward with a fairly casual pace that will be easy for the much shorter girl to keep up with. After all, he has nothing to fear here.

He has nothing to fear anywhere.]

Do you have anyone you can meet up with, Iris? Feel free to give them a call, I'll keep an eye on things. Just follow after me.

Got it...

[at his mention of calling friends, iris pauses and pulls out her phone. it really should have been the first thing to come to mind, but she was too busy running and fighting to remember that she had her phone in her pocket. she flicks the screen on; the upper-left corner reads NO SERVICE.]

...I can't. There's no service. They've probably taken out the cell towers to prevent people from organizing. I bet radio's the only thing that's working.

[the amicitia family still has protocols for what to do when the city is under attack, but iris wisely decides to keep them to herself until she's out of ardyn's company.]

[They did. He knows they did because he's behind this little attack, but he also knows that offering safe, sensible suggestions gets most people to drop their guard somewhat. A scary, terrible man set on spiriting her away wouldn't gently remind her to call someone.]

Things can never be that simple, can they? We'll have to make for the east gate and hope for the best.

[Ah, there's a ship overhead. Best pick up the pace! If they recognize him things could get a little messy. She'll find that he takes a very direct route — he's probably heading along the exact path she would have chosen for herself. Surely having someone nearby that can fight is a good thing... right?]

[the oddly well-versed route he's taking doesn't escape her notice. if anything, it heightens her suspicions. who is this man? how does he seem to know where he's going? (and, ugh, what is that outfit?)]

Are you from around here, Ardyn?

[iris's lips quirk into a forced smile, but her eyes are scanning the horizon for imperial soldiers. it's not very reassuring that they pass by the occasional dead body as they walk. she's seeking some kind of normalcy; she tries to crack a joke, rather flatly.]

The weather's usually better than this, around this time of year. It doesn't usually rain MTs.

Edited 2017-02-08 03:40 (UTC)

I was born here, but it's been awhile since I called it home...

[A very, very long while. Oh, how sweet it is to finally tear down that wall! He shudders almost imperceptibly. Yes, he'll be coming back here quite often. He may be the only one aware of it, but this city is his now. While he dwells on revenge and ownership the very air around him seems to darken, but her little joke pulls him out of his reverie. Is she trying to cheer herself up? How cute.]

I should hope not! Seeing the city like this is a terrible shame.

[For once, his voice takes on a sincere tone. It had to be done, but he does hate to see this mess. A high pitched child's scream breaks through the din of noise suddenly. Ardyn pauses his steps to take a look around, more out of curiosity than any truly altruistic intentions.]

[the genuine sorrow in ardyn's voice does help iris lower her guard somewhat. up until now ardyn has sounded condescending and untrustworthy — but he seems actually sad to see insomnia in such a state. she's about to comment when the child's shriek breaks through the air.]

That was a kid...!

[she's run ahead of him before she can stop herself, turning sharply down an alleyway towards where she heard the scream.]

[What a bother. Can't she just evacuate nicely?! Quite displeased, he stalks after her with his brows drawn together tightly. Down the alley they'll find a boy and an MT with orders to clear anyone openly resisting — unfortunately for the boy, throwing things counts as "resisting". Iris is unlikely to follow him if he doesn't at least make an attempt to save him.

He exhales sharply through his nose with irritation, then he dashes forward, drawing his sword in one graceful movement and beheading the trooper in a single swipe. Predictably, the violence has the boy screaming and crying even louder.]

[since ardyn's saved iris the trouble of climbing up another mt to somersault into it, she rushes over to the crying boy to comfort him, wiping his face with a lacy pink handkerchief from her skirt pocket.]

Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt? Shhh, it's okay, it's okay...

[that's when the boy's mother comes out of hiding, running to embrace the child with tears streaking down her face. kind of a shitty mother, really, if she was going to hide behind the building and just watch her son die, but... iris is sympathetic. fear makes people do strange things. she offers the boy a few more comforting words, tells him to stay with his mother, and gives them directions to what she hopes is a safer path out of the city.]

[Ardyn is less sympathetic. Abandoning her son like that is the height of cowardice, and were he alone he would be likely to slay her on the spot. As it is, he simply places his sword at his hip again and watches the scene impassively, putting on a smile when they scurry off like rats.]

A happy reunion.

[He doesn't sound particularly happy. The ungrateful woman didn't even bother to thank him!]

We shouldn't dawdle either — there are likely more where that one came from.

Yeah, I know... still, I hope they make it out okay.

[iris stands, stuffing the handkerchief back into her pocket and brushing off some miscellaneous debris from the folds of her skirt. when she turns to look at ardyn she smiles again — but this time it's genuine, and not forced.]

But that was a pretty slick move you pulled back there, Ardyn! Where did you learn to use a sword like that?

[Oh, it is always nice to be appreciated. Ardyn's smile grows wider as he tosses his ridiculous hair.]

I may not be a front line soldier now, but I was in the military at one point.

[Now. He's in the military right now, he's just finished climbing the ranks and doesn't have to fight anymore.]

I'm afraid I'm a bit too old for active duty at this point. It's good to hear that my skills haven't rusted too much.

[it's really a terrible time to be giggling, but iris giggles all the same, hiding her smile behind her hands and then hiding her hands behind her back.]

Aw, you can't be that old! You're, what — thirty, forty? My dad's still on active duty, and he's fifty-five...

[but iris's smile fades as she thinks of her father and realizes that, with all the commotion in the citadel, something must be terribly, terribly wrong.

the thought comes even though she doesn't want it: my dad's probably dead.]

...He'll... he'll be fifty-six soon.

[empty words.]

[Try two thousand and forty, Iris. But he won't correct her.]

Your father is a dedicated man if he hasn't retired at that age.

[That wavering smile has him worried that she's going to start crying. Ardyn isn't a fan of tears that he's not purposefully trying to elicit; they're just a waste of time and he feels no satisfaction from them. Worst of all, once in a blue moon he finds they tug uncomfortably at the tiny speck of Ardyn the healer left at his core. It never elicits true sympathy from him, but he does find the reminder of who he was to be incredibly irritating. Better to avoid it.

He walks up to her and lightly pats her upper back, twisting his voice until he sounds impossibly gentle.]

The best you can do for him is to make it out safely. Come.

[Again, he takes up the lead.]

...Yeah, you're right.

[iris's lips twitch into a half-smile as she follows ardyn with a cautious half-bounce in her step. the thought of her father being dead is certainly sobering, but she feels a little happy to have solved (in her mind) the mystery of ardyn. "formerly in the military" means he's probably ex-crownsguard — and that he probably did something pretty bad to have been dismissed from it, but she isn't going to be so callous as to ask. it's enough for her that she's seen him rescue two people now, including herself.

his gently rumbling voice makes her skin crawl, but... surely he's a good person, right?]

So... from what I can tell, the imperials are landing in the major thoroughfares and then spreading out towards the smaller streets. That's why I told those two to take the alleyways, but... do you think that was a good idea?

[He talks as he walks, keeping an eye on the sky to hopefully avoid any additional encounters. Taking out his own troops is a terrible waste! For the most part Iris is correct in her assessment, so he won't have to explain the route he chooses to take.]

I would say it gives them the best odds. If the empire is looking to actually rule this city, they're unlikely to simply slaughter everyone, anyway. Other countries they've taken over are intact for the most part. It's still best to not travel in a large group so as to avoid detection, though.

[A larger group looks like resistance. Taking her family history into consideration he doesn't doubt that Iris will resist the empire at some point, but so long as it's after Noctis is well on his way he really doesn't care.]

Hmm. You sure know your stuff.

[she doesn't say that in a suspicious way — she's just calling it as she sees it. more imperial airships streaking through the sky catch her attention; she frowns up at them, mulling over her thoughts.]

...I wouldn't be able to stand seeing Prince Noctis in the same kind of cage they put Lady Lunafreya in.

[That makes one of them, because Ardyn thinks he would like to see that very much. Watching Noctis struggle will be an exquisite pleasure he's waited far too long for.]

They caged the Oracle? How utterly shameless.

[Despite the fact that he's got some responsibility for Lunafreya's treatment, his voice still drops dangerously before he speaks again:]

A healer of the people should always be respected.

Oh, I'm not talking about a real cage. But, y'know, when I saw her arrive in Lucis... you look past the pretty dresses and the heels, and then you realize she's... stuck.

[she's done her research, as all girls with hopeless crushes do. iris's impression of lunafreya is that of a woman from a dream: unbearably beautiful, every inch of her measured and tailored to suit her position as the oracle. from the outside looking in, iris cannot imagine what lunafreya would be like at her most relaxed or vulnerable.

noctis, meanwhile, has always been some level of vulnerable. even she knows that; she knows how lazy and silly and overwhelmingly ordinary he can be. lunafreya, on the other hand, seems otherworldly.

the illusion of perfection must be a terrible burden to bear.]

...Yeah. She really deserves better.

Edited 2017-02-08 13:50 (UTC)

[She does, but she won't get it. The gods are as cruel as ever, and they've continued to "gift" people with powers very similar to his own after turning their backs on him. Lunafreya will have no reprieve — she'll continue to absorb daemons from the masses at the cost of her own health until the day she dies. Killing her now would be a mercy. Sadly for her, she won't receive that mercy from him. She must continue on to pave the path for the hopeless, hapless prince of Lucis.]

Such is the burden royalty bears. Being at the top comes with a heavy cost.

[He pauses his steps for a moment.]

Perhaps she won't have to bear it alone, though. The people were terribly excited for her marriage to Prince Noctis. I imagine that union is going to stick even without the treaty.

I guess so.

[she regrets saying it like that as soon as the words leave her lips. she should have been more chipper. more i guess so! and not i guess so. she tries again.]

I mean, I guess anyone would be excited to marry her —

[that's when the ground shakes and a building near them collapses, and iris lets out a rather undignified yelp, ducking behind ardyn before she stops to think about what the limits of her trust in him should be.]

Oh, what are they doing now?!

[It may only be one little disappointed sounding line, but to a man that's lived thousands of years it's simple to instantly deduce why she might be disappointed. So, the little sister carries a torch for the prince, does she? The information is likely to be useless to him, yet he files it away all the same.

Ardyn turns toward the building as it crumbles without flinching, irritated all over again. Really, didn't he advise the emperor against any unnecessary destruction? He can't help but feel like he's doing this on purpose, trying to send some silly message like "this is what happens when you resist my mighty empire for so long!".

Oh, well. He'll be able to do away with the man soon enough.]

It seems we should pick up the pace, [he calls out over the noise, offering his hand back to her. If they're going to be running, he has to be careful to not leave her behind.]

[she takes his hand without a moment's hesitation. which is stupid, really. if gladio were around, he would yell at her for taking some old guy's hand so easily. but there are a lot of things going on, and there's entirely too much to think about, and ardyn is here while the other men in her life have always had other places to be.

she keeps pace with him easily enough, given that she's an athletic teenage girl and she can keep pace with her brother without breaking a sweat. part of her wants to laugh at the way ardyn's clothes flutter from their movements. another part of her is trying to figure out the imperial strategy, but there is no strategy, just chaos. a third part of her is worried about noct. suppose the imperials found the prince's car heading towards galdin quay? suppose noctis, too, is dead? no, gladio would never let that happen, unless gladio himself was also dead...

she grips ardyn's hand a bit tighter as they run.]

We're... we're almost there, right...?

[the city streets have never seemed so long.]

[Despite those claims of being "too old" for the military, Ardyn doesn't seem to tire as they flee for the east gate. He doesn't even look sweaty despite those many, many layers he covers himself in. He single-mindedly runs toward their goal, undaunted by the ships in the air dropping troops all around them.]

Just a bit more, [he affirms encouragingly. In fact, with how close they are she'll be able to see a large grouping of people not far ahead being ushered through the gate. There's no small amount of pushing to be next in line despite calls for people to proceed in an orderly fashion. Humans are so incredibly selfish the moment pretending to be altruistic no longer benefits them. Why did he ever try so hard to save them?]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject