serrata | (no subject)

[There is a crash from Universe that sounds remarkably like a sword being thrown through a TV.]

[Sure enough, there is a screen lying dead on the floor with a thin sword planted in it, Ardyn sitting on the floor nearby clutching his head.]

[ That's about what she expected, yes.

Yuuri can't force herself to give him more than a minute or so to breathe before she goes to find him. She knows by now that space doesn't always work when it comes to this broken little family. But this is different -- this is Noctis and that means all the usual protocol goes right out the window.

She stops at the doorway, suddenly struck by something like stagefright and she realizes that, for once, she has no idea how to help. ]

... can I come in? Or do you need to be alone for a while?

...I lied. I knew the incentive would matter.

[He spoke in rushed and frantic tones, staring at the floor with a wide-eyed and not entirely present look.]

I knew it would matter to him. If he was erased, the entire world goes with him. And I--I would've--

[Ardyn shook his head, curling in on himself and pulling his knees to his chest.]

He did something stupid. I know he did, I know he wouldn't have just gotten killed carelessly. His entire role was to die for other people. For the entire world.

[ It's not until she's already kneeling down in front of him and carefully setting her hands on top of his that Yuuri's even aware that she'd crossed the room. There's a nasty little whirling void of panic in her chest that's making everything seem to blink by just a touch too quick. She's scared she won't have enough time to speak and try and make some of this right before the trial rolls around. ]

Try and slow down and take a big breath for me, okay? Just hold it in for a second and then let it out.

Try and breathe a little and then talk to me.

[Breathe, breathe, that's what he always told people who were starting to panic. That's what Church would probably have told him, if he were here.]

[...Gods, but Ardyn needed him right now.]

[He took a slow breath, held it, and let it out shakily.]

Good. That's a little better, right? Just focus on being here for a second before any of the rest of it.

[ Her frantically pounding heart's starting to ease just a little bit and she manages to give him a tiny trembling smile. ]

Do you need me to get anything for you?

[Ardyn shook his head slightly, swallowing hard past the constricted feeling in his throat.]

...stay here. Please.

Okay. I'm not going anywhere, I promise.

[ Here, come on, you're getting a hug. Or her best approximation of a hug, while he's so curled in on himself. ]

... will you be okay? To watch, I mean.

I...don't know.

That's okay. I don't think anyone would blame you if you couldn't. If you think it'll hurt more than it'll help, then I can watch it for you -- and me and Junpei, we'll tell you what happened.

[ She's quiet, just for a second, before she speaks up again. ]

You don't have to do this all by yourself. Not any of it. Sometimes, it... it's okay to take a step back and let us do it for you.

[Ardyn started to relax slightly as she talked, enough to lower his hands in favor of pulling Yuuri into a hug.]

...I know that. But this is...this is something I can't hide from. Not when it involves him.

[ God. She hates being so powerless. Though she never thought she'd hate anything more than being stuck in one of those games, it's being here that really kills her. Powerless beyond compare and even more at Intergal's mercy than they ever have been before. She'd talked herself up so much about how she was going to save them but when it comes down to it, she's just as useless as she's ever been.

The thought bubbles like poison and Yuuri forces herself to cut it off there. She can't let herself start crumbling when Ardyn is the one who needs help. ]

Then we'll just have to make sure we stay with you. So you're not doing it all by yourself.

But will you promise me that if it gets too much -- if you feel like you really can't stand it -- will you take a step back from it all? I can't do anything to fix this or make this better but... just let me try and protect you this once instead of the other way around, okay?

I...yeah. I will.

...I'm sorry I lied to all of you. About not being worried over the incentive.

It's okay. I mean -- it's not really okay, you idiot. But I'm not mad.

[ And she doesn't sound it -- fond and exasperated, yes, but never mad. Not with him. ]

Just remember that you can talk to us. It's not a one way street. You don't always have to be the one supporting us when we're scared and hurt. We're all here for you, too.

...I was afraid of what would happen to us if it really wasn’t a lie. I don’t know where Lady Lunafreya and Prompto would be without Noctis.

[He at least sounded calmer, now.]

And I didn’t...want to go back to that. The mad king of daemons, in an empty world under a starless sky.

We'd never let it happen.

Even if they managed to take away what Noctis did for you, they'd never be able to take away the rest of it. All that time we spent together in the mansion and everywhere else, even when we forgot, none of it ever really went away for good.

[ she pulls back just enough to give him a smile -- tired but fierce and protective all the same. ]

And besides, even if they wanted to try, they'd have to go through me and Junpei.