acatalepsy_rpg | video | dated at the very end of week one

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video | dated at the very end of week one

[The video opens on a patch of dirt, a leg stretched out along one edge of the screen. Next to the leg a number of very small muddy spots map out a connect-the-dots picture that more creative minds - or just anyone who's ever been a bored teenager - might recognize as a sort-of accurate depiction of one particular x-rated body part. A voice, cracking and hoarse like it has to drag itself over gravel to get its words out, starts speaking immediately.]

Hey, you know what makes me-

[His coughing is harsh and wet but it's only a few seconds before it stops. Hank mutters a curse under his breath, just audible, and hacks up a loogie, spitting it so it lands just so off the end of the art in the dirt next to him. The dirt there goes wet and dark, and with this artistic rendering of a drop of splooge, his masterpiece is complete. When he leans back the camera's in a different position; in the opposite corner from the dirt the screen shows the massive head of a Saint Bernard, taking up a good part of the screen and the majority of Hank's lap.]

You know what makes me feel better when I'm feeling like shit? Bitching about it. Let's bitch, guys. Tell me how shitty you've got it right now. It's not like anyone's got anything else to do here, right? I mean, not unless someone can get this big furry boulder to unglue itself from my lap. I'd have something to do if he'd just play. Look, watch this, it's pathetic.

Hey, Sumo. Fetch.

[Anyone with motion sickness might want to look away; the screen jerks around wildly as the arm with the camera on it moves to grab a rock and hold it in the air like Hank's going to throw it. Then the screen goes still again as Hank has to lean forward to cough, his dog's big, placid face now taking up the whole view. Sumo gives a single low whuff, lifts his head, and apparently settles himself right over the camera because the screen goes dark. There's the muffled sound of Hank cursing, trying to say Sumo's name between coughs, and then nothing as Hank manages to work his other hand under Sumo's jaw and shut the recording off.]

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[Hank looks at him, thoughtful, his eyes flicking down to where Sumo's stretching his neck out toward Noctis's fingers and back up.]

Yeah? You promise? You've got to watch what you feed him, but if you keep all the fur he sheds you could probably make a pretty good winter hat, so.

[He shrugs, watching the kid with a fond little smile.]

I know dogs enough! Luna always sent me a letter through her dog, so I definitely know how to feed one.

[His words are a little blurted out, especially with bringing up Luna - but Sumo is a better distraction, his own brief embarrassment being some color in his cheeks as he keeps rubbing his touch into a soft doggy nose. Luna, who he has also been thinking he sees, even if she herself is more elusive than in Eos. Just a trail of flowers, when he hallucinates.]

Through her dog?

[Hank's little smile goes kind of amused, seeing what's probably a blush, there.]

Is that just like, she trained her dog to take paper letters, or is that some magic shit?

[Noooooooo there's no blush here!!]

Uh - well, she trained them I think. They wear a satchel pretty well, and she puts the book in there, so. [Clearing his throat as he pointedly keeps his eyes on Sumo, Noct finally starts to scrub at the dogs ears again, absolutely trying to blow off the shyness he always ends up with when he brings her up.]

Honestly, they might be magic, they always know how to find me no matter where I am.

Shit, I bet that's cute as hell.

[Hank watches him, thinking about whether to try to dig into the topic of the girl. He decides to go for it. Until and unless the topic ends up being secretly tragic somehow it could be good for them, keep their minds of being sick.]

So what's her name, Luna? She train dogs for everyone, or just you?

[He feels a bit like he's eight again, in his wheelchair with his astrology books and Gentiana smiling at him as she gently pries about how he feels about Luna. Giving Sumo some scratches once more, ignoring the way his ears seem to color before his cheeks, Noctis' tone begins to turn softer, quieter.]

Just... her, really. They're hers. [He doesn't correct "Luna" just yet, because how does he even go about explaining who she is? Aside from the most benevolent and kind person he has ever met in his life.] Her name is Lady Lunafreya, Princess of Tenebrae. [With all of the respect he can muster, because the important fact of how he calls her Luna is... almost telling.]

A princess. [He sounds kind of dry when he says it, just a step away from sarcastic, but that's instinctive, the idea's just weird and foreign to him, and he reigns the urge to be a dick about the weird stuff in pretty quick.] They don't have those where I'm from. Not really, anyway. Is it all like, big hoop skirts and...

[What do princesses do? Ride unicorns? Would asking about cartoon shit sound like an insult, or is it a real possibility? It's probably a real possibility.

He decides not to ask about the unicorns.]

And, I don't know, tiaras? What's a real princess like?

[Okay, the idea of those big hoop skirts and the traditional princess garb Hank is talking about does make Noct chuckle, his head ducking down a moment before he looks up, but it's with a smile.]

No, you'd be surprised how modern everything sort of looks, considering how much magic exists in my world. We still have cars and arcades, sushi places, farms. Tenebrae was a lot more magical in a sense though, just fields of flowers everywhere and floating islands connected by barely there bridges.

[What's a real princess like is the question though, not what's it like in a Kingdom - he just talked in the end, whoops. Easing up on the pets and settling back, tucking his legs in under the blanket again, Noct gives a thoughtful little sound.]

She's kind. And caring. And wants to make the world a better place, and honestly can.

[The Oracle doesn't need the King to be amazing, in his opinion, despite what all these dumb prophecies say. Despite what his own confidence in himself says - she believes in him, so it's just a little easier to think that maybe he'll do alright.]

[Sumo settles his big head on his crossed paws, still staring at Noctis but less intensely than before, mostly appeased. Hank is watching him, too, a smile curling at a corner of his mouth once he moves on to talking about the actual princess herself.]

Sounds like she's going to be a good leader. That's pretty rare, at least where I'm from. Then again, no princesses where I'm from, so. Maybe that's connected.

Edited 2018-09-26 01:37 (UTC)

[It was easier to just keep petting the dog, wasn't it - but that he isn't being endlessly teased is making it easier to talk about Luna, even if pink still lingers at his ears. Glancing up again finally, Noct ends up with this hint of a smile as well. He's a little surprised of himself for how much easier it is to talk just like that.]

Yeah, haha. It might be connected, who knows. She just... she's a great person. I kind of hope she shows up here, even if I know my world is safer with her there.

[He misses her, even if all of their communication in the last 12 years has been through writing letters.]

Yeah. It's okay to miss people. [He shrugs. It would probably suck if someone else was stuck here, someone the kid didn't want to feel trapped and cut off, but that doesn't mean some part of him might not still want her here.] Did you two used to talk a lot?

[It's okay to miss people, it really is, but Noct somewhat thinks that if both her and he are here, it means Eos will have some real issues.]

We um. We wrote letters to each other, that the dogs would carry. I'd get a response two or three times a week, but it's been less since we're both really. Busy.

[He's on the run, Luna is trying to escape the Niffs and raise the Gods. Scratching his chin and glancing away instead, Noct reaches to start petting Sumo again.]

I'm meeting her in a city called Altissa, a sort of middle place between our countries. It's sort of going to be the first time I've seen her in almost twelve years, but I don't think the time has changed her at all.

Yeah?

[He sucks at his teeth, trying to figure out a more polite way to say 'fat chance' - or even if he should say it. If the poor kid's going to get his illusions about his perfectly unchanged sweetheart shattered into itty bitty pieces, maybe it's none of his business.]

That's pretty good, especially for someone in charge. Guys where I come from are only in charge for like, four years, eight tops, and they all kinda look old and grey afterward, even the younger ones.

[Ah, those sweet illusions about how pretty Luna has grown up to be - no, she's still pretty, he has seen flyers of her in recent years, of the Oracle rising to her duty. The idea that Luna could change all that much from how he remembers her does make him smile a bit, but even thinking of old and grey gives him a vivid memory of how his father looked on leaving him.

Limping down the stairs, needing Drautos to call out to him even because he can't move like he used to and Noct was going too fast - his expression goes quiet, attention far away for a moment as he pleads with his last memory of his father, wanting his own impatience to calm down. All he had to say were some cheeky lines, all he could do was take a hand on his shoulder and laugh.]

Yeah. Kind of comes with the burden, that someone in that position wears out like that. It sucks the life out of you. [He says it softer, unsure of just where to go with the remark and - it was easier to talk about Luna, he thinks, when he sits there with Sumo's ears in his hands.]

[Hank watches the kid's face and his own falls with the realization that he stepped in it, somewhere. He sighs, looking from Noctis's hands to his face and back again.]

Hey, next time I hit a sore spot just tell me to fuck off, okay? I promise I won't get offended.

[Awkwardly grimacing, trying to smother the feeling down again as he turns his head away like not seeing his face is the key to everything being fine, Noct gives a small laugh. Bottle it down, he doesn't have time to think about this, he has all the time in the world and yet he shouldn't have the time-]

It's fine. I like talking. [He won't let himself cry, there's nothing he should cry about - he didn't see anything after all, being sent away like that.] Sorry, for uh. [For getting emotional, is what he doesn't say even as he keeps his head turned down and away, like it can make up for his inability to not overthink.]

[Oh my god. Hank. Hank you fucked up. You stupid fucker. The kid's already feeling like crap and you're gonna make him have some kind of Moment. Not a good moment. The shitty kind of moment. Hank.]

Yeeeeah. Sure sounds like it.

[Hank bites at his cheek, and actually lifts a hand before having a little crisis about whether he should try some kind of gesture. He doesn't know the kid well enough to know if he would even welcome something like that. Would that just make this shittier?]

Like I said earlier, nothing to apologize for. You just talk about whatever you want, okay?

[Okay, his hand will just... be here. Close enough for the kid to lean into if he wants, or just ignore if he doesn't. That's fine, right? It's fine. Great job, Hank.]

[He's just taking some deep breathes to stuff his feelings down and it works - with some time. Raising his head slowly, looking up with a little bit of embarrassment (and shame) of getting somewhat worked up, Noct just carefully leans into that touch. Just a weight wherever Hank was intending to put his hand, because it's a nice sense of grounding.]

Where are you and Sumo from? [He likes to talk, just about anything but himself. Anything but his Kingly duties to Eos.]

[Hank tries for a little smile when Noctis looks up at him, rubbing his hand up and down a couple times over the side of his back.]

Detroit, born and raised. Both of us, I think. Uh, not that you'd know where that is. It's a city, in a state in a country. Amazing, huh? No magic, so it's probably a lot uglier than your place. Lotsa graffiti, lots of grungy buildings, lots of people. Snow. I don't know if this place even has seasons, but it's a lot warmer here than it is there. This guy probably thinks it's summer.

[He gives Sumo's head a little nudge, and Sumo gives a snort at the attention.]

Was winter when we left, so I guess that's one good thing about uh, whatever this place is.

[His hand will just stay where it is, until Noctis starts seeming uncomfortable with it or until they've settled into a new topic and he seems like he's relaxed again. Don't worry about it. It's just there.]

Magic doesn't do that much to the environment.

[Teasing with a softer tone, breathing in deep and exhaling this quieter, shaking breath as he immerses himself in the conversation rather than letting his mind run on autopilot, Noct slowly starts moving his hands again to scratch at Sumo's ears. Seasons, weather, a grungy sort of city full of people and graffiti. It sort of makes him think of the refugee section of Insomnia, where things became more cultural and less pristine and something about it always made Noct appreciate it more.

Then again, he was always soft hearted for the refugees, stuck here when they would rather be home and yet unable to go home due to the war.]

Sounds like something to see. We never got much snow, Insomnia was in a great spot with ocean and mountains, so our temperatures stayed pretty mild.. at least until you started to go west and hit the desert. [It's just there, but it's a mindful reassuring gesture that Noct is willing to keep for as long as Hank will give it to him.] But a second summer is never a bad thing.

Insomnia? [Hank makes a face.] That sounds pleasant. I mean, I'm sure it's nice, but that's uh, quite a name. That where you're from? The land of no one getting any sleep?

[Don't judge him. Magic and all that shit, right? A place where no one gets any sleep sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale, so for all he knows, that's actually what it is. And if it's just a weird name, then Hank was actually joking. He's at least fifty percent joking.]

Insomnia was the crown city in the Kingdom of Lucis.

[He does smile a bit more though, knowing full well the joke he's going for here. It's something he always frowned about, a city that never sleeps, but the name wasn't all that misleading for how busy it always was.]

The world is called Eos. Insomnia was pretty... sprawling? It was large, had a self sufficient set-up. There were always people doing something or other in it, so... [Yeah, the land where no one sleeps - except now no one sleeps there for new reasons.]

Oh, yeah. Like New York. Uh, they call it that too, sort of, 'the city that never sleeps'. So, Insomnia, Lucis, Eos. Got it. I can't figure out if those sound like fantasy names in my world or not. I'm leaning toward not, they don't have enough apostrophes.

[He studies the kid a couple seconds, then slowly starts to drop his hand. Everything's back on an even keel now, right? Getting there? Good.]

What about Hammerhead, Duscae, Galdin Quay?

[Yeah, everything is back to normal - about as normal as he can make it, as he puts everything else out of his mind and just lists some locations he has been in with this quiet amused look. He can feel that hand going away, and he doesn't want to make things awkward by saying it was fine, so he lets it go.]

Detroit could sound like a fantasy name to me, you know.

Well, does it? I'd be shocked if anything about my uh, my 'Earth' sounded weird to anyone around here. What kind of fantasy stories would you guys even have when you have magic? Would you have fantasies about like, normal shit?

Those names are fine, though. Hammerhead's kind of on the edge, but it's also pretty badass, so I'll give it a pass.

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your icon descriptions are incredible

df;hksj;l texts from last night for keywords have never failed me

XD I was wondering if they were canon references until that instagram one

oh god lmao i did pick them with noct in mind though

and with that i learned a lot about him that i hope hank never learns

shhh!!!! shenanigans!!!!

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hank nooooo it's not youuuuu

hank's mouth, hank's fault

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