darkinferno | [ic inbox]

I don't see what I said to deserve being ignored. 😒

You could at least tell us before you run off without your phone. Good thing Pen was around to cover for you, jerk.

Text me when you get this.

You got time to talk?

What is this, Ignore Togusa's Texts Day? If you're hung over, at least give me a 'no.'

I'm checking Mariko's apartment. Doing it right now. If you're there, this is your last chance to go out the window.

All right. This isn't a fucking coincidence anymore. Wherever you are, you'd better be okay when I find you.

Anything ever feels off, you tell me right away. Yeah?

[he puts his fist up for a bump, a smile also on his face to mirror dante's]

's what brothers are for.

[HOW EMBARRASSING]

[And suddenly this conversation has shifted into something a bit more serious, and yes, Ardyn thinks to himself that this was the issue to begin with.]

No. I don't.

[That implied "yet" hangs in the air, tenuous thing that it is. He hopes it never applies, but it's difficult to say, what with how everything has been. He still wishes that he can be strong enough to where it doesn't ever apply.]

Do my eyes bother you because of that?

[He nods solemnly.] I'm still putting the pieces together, but it sounded like the land itself was corrupted, and because of that, everything was dying. We had to stop him somehow, and this was the only way we knew of.

[Sorey's tone makes it clear that he doesn't like that answer, but those are the facts. He would never have settled on it if there was an alternative. And even then, he knows he wasn't entirely comfortable with it back then. He can remember exactly how he felt, because memories work that way... and he knows he hated himself for it, but he had to let it go.]

... I had my friends to guide me-- some of the best teachers I know. And they wouldn't let me do it if it was the wrong thing to do. You're right.

[He looks up from the table, then, his expression somewhat determined.]

I don't think anyone is beyond salvation. [He balls his gloved hand into a fist.] There might not have been a solution on my world at the time, or at least not something attainable, but... If there was something like this again, in Recollé, I think we should depend on each other. The limitations in my world might not exist in yours, and vice versa.

Maybe our past decisions have something to do with why we're here now. Maybe reaching out to each other is the only way to fix this.

[A huff of derision. How about no, Ardyn...]

Lucky for me I don't plan on playing any concerts any time soon. You'll be waiting a while.

[He says, not thinking about how this conversation got started in the first place. ]

[Yet. It's a word that doesn't need to be said, not between the two of them.

Instead, Dante will just give Ardyn the truth.]

...you got it

one of the nightmares i've been having since august is my eyes turning gold like that. knowing that ansem had taken me over

and a few nights ago in the fog, something happened. ansem was there and so were all these other figures in black coats. he was talking about them being vessels and he wanted to make sora into one too

sora had the same eyes as all the rest of them, that same color, and we had to fight him off. he wasn't in control of himself

so seeing you with them now... yeah

it's pretty unnerving

sorry

Yeah. [Dante will be returning that fistbump without question IT'S NOT EMBARRASSING AT ALL THEY'RE BROTHERS NOW IT CAN'T BE EMBARRASSING]

Just don't be surprised when I start calling you in the middle of the night. It's not exactly a great dream to wake up from.

Do you still play very often at all? You know I've a piano at my house that needs dusting off, and probably a bit of tuning.

[Can you hear the smile on his face? Teasing thing that it is.]

You can practice for the wedding.

[There's a moment or two of silence that stretches out before he gets a response. It's a plain, simple question.]

Do you think golden eyes really do correlate with... darkness?

[It's not a patronizing question. It's just what it is... a coincidence, perhaps? Maybe his own world ran on a differing set of rules?

(The dark of the throne room was so heavy, he could feel it. The dark of that awful sky, suffocating stars. Did it really correlate, did it-)]

What I told you is the truth. I wouldn't lie about that.

[He would withhold information, maybe, specifically to Prompto and Noctis about what he felt towards them in his memories, though.]

Pretty often. I could--what?

[He was about to say he might be able to tune it if it's not too terribly out of key, but Ardyn's taken him by surprise. He doesn't actually know whether this is more of Ardyn teasing him, or if he's serious!]

Is that a joke?

[Anxiousness isn't a state that Dante's really accustomed to, but damn if he doesn't feel it in that period between sending his text and receiving Ardyn's answer. He's fiddling with the sheath of Ari's dagger when he receives the response, and he has to reread Ardyn's response a few times before he can formulate his own.]

i'm not sure

i think... they do in my memories at least

[But that doesn't necessarily mean they do in Ardyn's. Dante doesn't really question the idea that they seem to be remembering different places, perhaps different worlds, but it's hard to separate the idea of amber eyes being connected to darkness when Ardyn's told him about these memories he's had.]

okay. i'll take your word for it

[But he trusts Ardyn. Implicitly. With everything that's happened between the two of them since all this began, Ardyn's proven himself time and time again. He's never lied to him, and he's never tried to hide an unpleasant truth.]

but it's gonna take some time before i stop worrying about them. i trust you but... it's like my brain keeps going into fight or flight mode when i see them

Hey need an answer on this immediately

Am I looking at you right now or is the city fucking with me again?

what? no, i'm at a friend's place

what do you mean, are you looking at me right now? where are you?

School.

Uh. Gimme a minute.

whenever, i'm not going anywhere

[????????]

[Well, he had said it teasingly, but-]

Would you be against it?

[There it is again, that guilt. He hasn’t lied, no, but he isn’t sharing the extent of all of his feelings. He’s told Dante of the bitterness and the heavy weight of spite that his other self carried with him — he just hasn’t noted, not yet, who he had felt that towards, specifically, in his newer memories.

He pushes it down. Aside. It’s not a subject that he needs to bring up, not now. Not with Dante already feeling so uncertain, as if he were someone to be wary of.]

Is there anything I can do to help you feel more comfortable around me?

You didn't answer my question.

[He could be convinced pretty easily, honestly.]

you do a pretty good job of that already

it's gonna take time to get used to, that's all. just don't take it personally

Well...

[That requires a consideration that isn't just teasing.]

No. It isn't a joke. It's too early for either of us to have given the wedding itself any sort of thought, but... if there's a piano involved, there's only one person I can think of who would be suited to play at it.

[ic inbox]

afternoon 10/14

after fight club 10/15

10/15

10/15 later

Re: 10/15

10/15 even later

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Backdate: 10/10 early evening

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject