lucian royalty takin over here

[carbungle]

♥ Who: Noctis Lucis Caelum + Open!
♥ Where: Just a catch-all for some stuff
♥ When: Now! + January catch-all
♥ What: The prince of Lucis has Things To Do
♥ Rating: PG? will update as needed


( a. have you met my emotional support scarf - Open to All! )

[At first glance, it's just a normal guy walking down the street, nothing to pay any mind. Getting closer however reveals that he appears to be... talking to himself? Or at least having half a conversation, glancing at the empty space by his shoulder and speaking, then looking down at his communicator for a silent response. It probably looks kind of weird, and he's quite preoccupied with it. Maybe try getting his attention?

Those who can sense magic might notice not just his, but a secondary presence at his shoulder, small and invisible. Those who can't sense magic might just hear it... squeak?]


( b. friendship is magic...? - Open to Family/CR he's inevitably harassing )

[Noctis is venturing out to find… people! People he knows. And likes. Or just wants to know and like better. Basically he's trying to visit his friends and family, in part for a very specific question but also just to try that whole open affection thing he keeps getting told to work on.

If he knows where you live, he's paying a visit! Otherwise, mayhaps he'll find you in the street or in a shop somewhere by chance.]


( c. girlfriend? girl! friend!! - CLOSED TO LUNA )

[Going out for a date is all well and good but for Noctis a night in is just as (if not more) enjoyable, and the fact that Luna feels the same and had suggested it makes him appreciate her all the more; thus, the only thing on tonight's agenda is a meal at home and each others' company. He'd helped her prep whatever dish she'd opted to make, but once it's ready to be cooked and he has nothing to do, he parks himself at the table with his tablet out, opening up the design doc for King's Knight 2.0. Prompto's not around so he can finally ask her without spoiling the surprise.]

So... if you were gonna pick a character to play, what kind would it be?


( d. those ding dang head whispers - CLOSED TO REGIS )

[A little later into the month, after weeks of stressing about it and hiding and wishing he was a hell of a lot stronger, Noctis at last makes a decision. No more putting it off- it's time to face his future, his responsibilities. Time to learn about what the hell he's meant to do going forward.

He sends a message to Regis, requesting a one-on-one meeting, while the house is otherwise empty. He's late to arrive once a time is decided, pacing and circling the house first, anxious and hating it. Coward, his mind is scolding him. Just do it already.

Finally, he steels himself for the last time and steps up to knock on the door before he can change his mind again. No going back now...]

Comments

[iustaegis]

Are there other messengers in your world?

[ Dear Architect does she adore her world and she would give everything for it. But it is also a sad topic because her world is on its last legs. They're having a nice conversation right now, why ruin it? ] Does Somnus and your father have their own Carnbuncle, for example?

1/2

[carbungle]

[ B| ]

[carbungle]

There's said to be over twenty, but I only know about five for sure. Luna's dogs, Umbra and Pryna, are Messengers to the Oracle, and Gentiana led me to where to find Ramuh's covenant. Oh, and-

[He gives his arm a tap, higher up beneath the bracer, where the half-legible covenant mark he hadn't yet named is hidden.]

The Messenger of the Winds made a covenant with me, but she's forgotten her name. You're the only one of you though, right?

[He glances at Carbuncle, who yips affirmatively.]

Yeah, just me then. Chosen stuff again, I guess.

[iustaegis]

[ Her attention perks, as if he's said something of importance. Before she can stop herself, the question leaves her lips: ]

--Forgot her name?

[carbungle]

That's what she said- that she was asleep for so long she forgot what she was called before. All we found was a statue of her, and Ignis said she was mentioned in some old texts but not by name. Her existence was kinda iffy until we confirmed it ourselves, so...

[Lost to time and forgotten? Not so surprising, especially at this point.]

[iustaegis]

[ She continues to watch him, as if she’s waiting for him to volunteer more on his own. ]

[carbungle]

[Her silence makes him blink and look up, brows furrowing, unsure. There's still so little he knows about them- any of them. Maybe...?]

She picked her own, when we made the covenant. She's called Garuda now- the Vortex. She's actually a little more reliable than the Astrals when it comes to helping me out.

[Carbuncle shifts, gently smacking a long ear against Noct's cheek, and he huffs a breath, fondly exasperated.]

I know, I know. No one's more reliable than you.

[iustaegis]

[ Pyra shifts her weight from one leg to the other, watching the exchange... and her expression relaxes into a smile. Whatever had caused her expression to shift in the first place, the moment has passed. ]

You... really aren't alone at all in your journey, are you?

[carbungle]

[He pauses, glancing over to give her a studying look. She's as hard to read as ever, but... he's curious. More and more curious, every time.]

...No, I'm not. Someone's always been watching over me. [He gives Carbuncle another stroke across its fur, his expression grateful, nostalgic. Even in his darkest moments, in the dead of night or his darkest dreams, he's never been alone.] And I know I'm lucky for it.

[iustaegis]

[ She brings her hand to her lips, chuckling softly. ]

Even as an infant I take it? I’m envious! It’d have gotten to pinch a little prince’s cheeks back then....

[ She doesn’t know if this had actually occurred, but the image is delightful enough. ]

[carbungle]

[He scoffs, embarrassed, and lifts a hand to scratch at his cheek.]

Yeah right... not that I'd have known it that far back. First time I remember us meeting is when I was eight. It said it knew all about me already, though, so it must've been watching before then.

[Maybe there was cheek-pinching. Carbuncle certainly isn't telling.]

[iustaegis]

[ Eight. Wow. Already on the path all the way back then...

But wait. ] You... had others, correct? Besides Carbuncle where you were young...?

[ She asks this only because Carbuncle is invisible, and that... would be worrisome to anyone else watching him apparently talk to himself. She had certainly been worried when she first saw him this day, chatting to himself! ]

[carbungle]

Oh, yeah. I had Ignis with me, too.

[Two whole friends! That's so many!!]

And my dad was around when he was free.

[iustaegis]

[ Ignis, who is also part of his extended “family”, his Messenger, and then his father. YEP, THAT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE TO HAVE, IN PYRA’S UNIRONIC OPINION. Still, it doesn’t sound as if he had the most social of childhoods...

And although curious (for she had never hand a childhood herself, and the two children with whom she traveled centuries ago did not have anything remotely of a childhood either), she will not impose.... it seems like this is a sensitive subject. ]

If... your childhood is something you’d be willing to share more about, I will listen.

[ And just in case it isn’t, she’ll offer an out by way of playfulness: Pyra lifts her hand up to poke at his cheek. ]

You never grew out of these, after all.

[carbungle]

Grew out of… my cheeks?

[what the heck does that even mean, Pyra. Carbuncle yips at his shoulder, sending along a message-

👶 👶 😂 ]

...Who's side are you on.

[He gives the little Messenger a gentle shove, and shakes his head.]

Anyway, it isn't that interesting. [Carbuncle makes a noise that could either be a scoff or a sneeze, and Noct frowns at it.] I spent most of my time in the Citadel, with Ignis or my tutor, or training with Gladio, when I wasn't in school. Most of what I remember is just that- I only went outside the city walls once, to see Luna in Tenebrae.

[iustaegis]

Only once?

[ —before those walls fell, she presumes. But that sounds excessively sheltered. She had expected that even as a child he’d be traveling as prince.... Unless this conflict with the empire he mentioned before made it excessively dangerous. ] Er. That is— sorry, that was insensitive. [ She shakes her head. ]

It... seems like your father wished to keep you especially safe.

[carbungle]

Not just me. It isn't that strange for a citizen of Insomnia, actually. Even my Dad barely left while I was growing up- it was safer for everyone if he was near the Crystal, to keep the wall up. And most of the time daemons and Niflheim couldn't get into the walls, so it was safer to stay inside.

[Most… did they ever figure out how Marilith got in? It's too bad his father is still so young, or he'd ask. Maybe Cor would know.]

He was pretty overprotective, but I can't blame him. There was the Chosen stuff, and...

[He shrugs, glancing away. She'd seen the scars, she'd felt that lingering scourge mark in his soul. There were reasons to keep a child protected from the dark.]

[iustaegis]

...Yet you... wanted to go and see the outside world in some way, didn't you? To see Luna, too. [ She smiles softly.

Leaving his city is what it sounds like he had eventually gotten to do from her impression, but that must have come after the fall of the wall. However, knowing that he had been kept inside those walls for his protection doesn't seem to quite ease the concept of being caged. Loneliness comes with it. It is another form of sacrifice; he, his father cannot have both freedom and safety all while ensuring the lives of their citizens.

She wonders if the way he smiled inside those walls had been any different from thew way he does now. She wouldn't dare suggest hat she would have been so very happy to be friends with him back then, or to know him. That's far too presumptuous. She keeps the subject away from herself. ] Whatever heartache you felt back then... I am sorry you had to endure. Ignis, Gladio... I hope they made you smile then, too.

[carbungle]

I wanted to, sure. But I knew I wasn't strong enough. I had a lot of work to do before I could leave home.

[Especially since he'd been shoved right back to the starting line. Getting out of Insomnia and meeting Luna had been a taste of what the outside world was like, and it was... incredible, breathtaking. But terrifying, too. He'd seen daemons, he'd faced the war, and barely survived either. It's only thanks to his father that he's alive at all, and thanks to the Oracle's gifts that he's awake and walking.

Making some attempt at acting like a proper prince had been the least he could do as thanks for that, even if he had his own forms of harmless rebellion.]

It wasn't so bad. I found plenty of ways to have fun, and to get into trouble, too. I bet they'd have liked it if I made them smile more instead of dragging them into it with me.

[Especially Ignis. Poor, poor Ignis.]

[iustaegis]

[ They'd have liked it if he didn't drag them into trouble? She doubts this is still the case; she imagines that years later those memories of him would be quite fond.

But just in case, she gives him a nudge. ] Trouble, mm?

[ What kind of princely trouble within the walls are we talking about here/ Playing too many video games? Sneaking outside the Citadel? SCANDALS?! ]

[carbungle]

[She's pretty close, but he only smiles secretively.]

Just a bit of trouble. But you didn't hear it from me.

[He's full of shit and they both ought to know it.]

[iustaegis]

[ That shit-eating grin tho. It only makes her eyes turn alight with curiosity. ]

So only mischievous trouble, not notorious?

[carbungle]

...Both? Mostly the former. It was harmless in my opinion, but it sure got the Citadel kicking up a fuss when I snuck outside. You'd think they would learn that if they let me out once in a while I wouldn't have to.

[Though he now has reason enough to suspect that his dad let him think he was getting away with a lot more than he actually was.]

[iustaegis]

[ She only laughs. Okay, she’s convinced that he had at least some fun in his youth, and look at all those friends he (still) has!

Her free hand goes to her chest. ]

If... nothing else, the people of your kingdom were very fortunate to have that chance to interact with their prince. [ Softly, ] I know I would be. [ Rather, she feels she is lucky to know him at all. ]

[carbungle]

[He smiles idly at that.]

Hope so. It'd be nice if I at least left a lasting impression on them.

[Especially considering his father sent him away to save him and abandoned them all to the Imperials; he's hoping his past contributions offsets that at least a little bit when he actually gets around to doing the whole king thing for real.]

So what about you? All I know about your world is that you've got a robo-dragon.

[He's half-expecting more evasion, but he's testing a little, too. Maybe like with the dragon talk, she'll be more willing to open up if it's less specifically about her.]