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♥ Who: Gladio and OTA.
♥ Where: Everywhere.
♥ When: January 3rd.
♥ What: Gladio finding his feet and meeting the locals.
♥ Rating: PG-13

Another Strange Place:
[Gladio had been walking toward a small group of children, smiling as disarmingly as a man as large and seemingly intimidating as he could. The adults were nowhere to be seen, aside from some of the elderly. He'd hoped to gain some information. Anything, to help...

But between one step and the next... everything went dark. Not not a bad kind of dark. It felt... strange...

... When Gladio opened his eyes to see sky above him, white clouds, blue, clear sky... He turned his head slightly to see... nothing he expected. Instead of rustic houses, dirt paths, wooden fences and children at play, he saw white. White pillars and columns shaped like trees. Red and white ornaments. Strange looking birds. And he was laying down in the centre of it all.

He rose slowly, turned and dropped his legs over the edge of slab of carved stone he lay upon. When Gladio looked down he still wore the same clothes he'd been wearing (black leather pants, dark brown tunic, black cloak), so at least that hadn't changed. There was a sigh as he lifted a hand to scrub across his face.]

Damn train's done it again...

[Was this a side mission? Why had he been pulled away? And where was everyone else? When Gladio looked at his wrist he frowned, his SCA was gone. That didn't bode well. He was just contemplating calling out when a strange robot approached him... and that's where Gladio found out that he wasn't in Irivar anymore.

He was lead from the stone slab into another area to find more robots... he was handed a tablet, some local currency... and sent him on his way.

Gladio stepped out of the, what was it? He looked back and up. Temple... definitely a temple. He stepped out... and immediately sat himself down on the steps in the snow to try and work his head around what the hell he'd gotten himself into this time.]

A Teeny Tiny Fortune:
[Having noticed the strange booth, Gladio approached curiously. These robots were a strange thing, but so was the box that he was handed. He shook it as directed, a small, amused smile on his lips.

Then he was given a piece of paper.]

"The smallest things can bring the biggest rewards." Huh... good things in small packages, right? Thanks.

[Still looking very amused, Gladio shoved the paper in his pocket and turned to go.]

Stuck On You:
[Apparently he needed to look for a place to live. This was a big step up from a small room with a smaller bed shared between four people.

Gladio had taken his cloak off and had it wrapped over one hand. The laces of his leather tunic had been loosened and he was considering just taking that off as well, but figured near stripping in the middle of the street could be frowned upon.

He was so distracted by his surroundings that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Gladio bumped into someone. Automatically he reached out to stop whoever he ran into from hitting the ground... except that never happened. Wait, why couldn't he let go?]

Sorry! You okay?

Taking Stock:
[He'd found his way to the centre of the city it seemed. He'd found a fountain, an interesting structure that Gladio stood for a while, just looking at. He moved around it slowly, looking at all angles, before he sat himself down on the edge.

He stretched his legs out in front of himself and sighed.

So far this place didn't seem to have anything in common with where he had been before... He was starting to get a sinking feeling.

It was cold, there was snow everywhere, but nothing that was going to bother him so much that he was rushing to get indoors. He'd spent so much time inside over the last few months, even the snow was welcome.]

Home Away From Home:
[Houses... Small houses bunched together... And he was supposed to find one.]

Right... so how the hell does this work?

[Gladio walked up the street, then down it again, before he stopped in front of a house that appeared to be vacant. The tablet thing claimed it was unoccupied, so he walked on in.

After having a look around, he laughed to himself and did what was necessary to become the new owner... and then dropped himself down on sofa. Well and truly done.]

Wildcard:
[If you have another idea for a prompt, have at it, I'll run with anything. Though if you'd like to contact me I can be found on plurk and discord:

JustAnotherUsername | Theo#4816 - poke me as needed![

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[Gladio tried to imagine what meeting his own father would be like, a younger Clarus. He'd heard stories, seen pictures, and thought it'd be kind of... weird. Yeah, that was a good way of putting it.]

Least you've a chance to know him like this.

[He looked around, then nodded behind him.]

We sitting, or standing around some more?

Sitting sounds good.

[He should probably get off his feet soon anyway. The last thing he wants is to stumble and end up on his ass in front of Gladio. He shifts across the kitchen and drags out one of the table chairs, gesturing for Gladio to take an empty spot.]

I'd offer the couch but I'm pretty sure it needs to be deep-cleaned if Prom's been sneezing on it all week.

[Love the guy, but that's gross and probably contagious.]

[Gladio nodded and walked across the kitchen to pull out one of the chairs and dropped himself down onto it. He kept his cup between his hands though, it was warm.

Heh, so a bad cold, is it?

[The thing with Prompto. If it was something like that, no, Gladio wouldn't like to catch that. Or sit on a snot covered couch.]

Couldn't say. Ignis is taking care of it, and I've been kinda, uh, occupied. [He scratches his cheek awkwardly.] I'm sure he'll be fine, you know how fevers work. Get worse, then get better.

[He nodded, sipped at his tea and gave a low laugh.]

Right. Kids tough. He'll bounce back in no time.

Yeah...

[Noctis pauses, drumming his fingers briefly against his mug. Should probably address the other thing.]

Hey, about Ardyn... are you okay with that?

[He thought about the question, remembered what he'd planned to ask Noct so gave a slightly apologetic smile.]

Me first... Are you okay with him?

[Noctis tries to meet his gaze for a few seconds, but he can't hold it. His eyes flit away as he shifts in his seat.]

...No reason not to be. He hasn't done anything to us.

[The answer is true on multiple levels, as far as Gladio should be concerned. On one hand, Ardyn Izunia didn't truly hurt them until the rite of Leviathan, so Gladio wouldn't know. On the other hand, this isn't Ardyn Izunia. Ardyn Lucis Caelum is family and has been nothing but kind- did in fact play a part in why he's even alive right now, as of a few days ago.

So it's fine. It's mostly fine. He's reached the point where he only occasionally feels that flair of panic when he looks at the man who's become his uncle at this point. That's pretty good, right? Right. And Gladio doesn't need to know why, nor is Noct inclined to let him know about that particular weakness he's still struggling with, so he's trying to play it off.]

[Gladio's eyes narrowed for a moment and he bit back a sigh. Alright...

He took another, slow sip of his tea. It was almost gone. When it was finished, he'd make his excuses. For now...]

Then it's fine. He's got a face I want to stab. But he's not the one I want to kill, so I can deal.

Pretty sad that he's gotten used to that. [Noct's lip quirks up a little, fighting a smile.] Appreciate it, though.

[Stabbable face or not, he's family, and he doesn't really want his family to fight each other. Convincing Ignis was hard enough, but Gladio takes his job just as seriously.]

No worries. We sorted it out. Just wanted to make sure he wasn't lying.

[Which was why he'd wanted to know Nocts opinion first. If the Prince had told him that Ardyn was an asshole, he'd have matched right out and broken his nose at the very least.

And yeah, Gladio did tend to take his job seriously... But he was also new to this world. He needed to find his place in it first...

Needed to be trusted again.]

He's not the first one I've met, either. So it helped.

Not the first...?

[Oh. Space train world.]

That place had an Ardyn too?

[This is getting more and more weird...]

Yeah... he'd known a you, as well. He'd been pulled from Eos... after everything, I think. Into some kind of death game?

[Gladio honestly couldn't remember the details, there'd been so much to take in that some of it had just... became white noise in the end.]

Had an interesting bird though.

[Um.]

He had a bird?

[Alternate-universe-Ardyn, what the hell.]

[Gladio just grinned.]

Beautiful thing. Looked like a nebula.

[He decided not to admit he'd played the piano for it... and that Ardyn had hummed along as well. That was a weird memory that he'd keep to himself.]

[Noct will be much happier not knowing that part of it, thanks. He's already boggled.]

Okayyy... [Ardyn with a spacebird, that's a strange visual. It's enough he's adopted a tonberry here.] Weird if you were chill with him, though. If he's from after everything, I figured he'd be pissed.

[To still be alive, that is. Since he's gunning to either kill everything or finally die after thousands of years as a lonely murdermonster.]

Oh, I was ready to murder him...

But he looked... [A small shake of his head. He'd wanted to say pathetic, but that wasn't right...]

Tired. Down in his bones exhausted with... everything. Like killing him would be a mercy at that point.

I think hearing he had friends, people... hell, even someone he loved, helped. [Not that Arydn had come out and said he did, but the ring he'd kept fiddling with seemed to imply that there was someone special in the guys life. Someone who hadn't been there on the train.] The Ardyn from Eos... don't think he was someone who'd have friends.

Edited 2021-01-05 01:09 (UTC)

...Guess you've got a point.

[Not that far off from the Ardyn of the present, technically- not only because he'd lost Aera but because he's trying here, too. The concept of an Ardyn in love separates him even further from Izunia, who Noctis had difficulty imagining loving anyone. And tired absolutely checks out.]

Either way, I'm glad he is who he is here. If he ever ended up with his future memories, I... [He trails off, hating the idea of tempting fate, then shakes his head after a pause.] ...I don't know. Things would be different, I'm sure.

[Gladio gives a slight shrug of his left shoulder.]

He turns. He dies. That simple.

[On the Trecker, he wasn't the guy he'd needed to kill. Here he wasn't that either. If he changed, if he became Ardyn Izunia, all bets were off. He'd find a way to grind his bones to dust so he'd never come back and hurt anyone ever again.]

You say that like it's that easy. I tried already, and he just came back.

[...Ah. Wait, that was on the train, so Gladio wouldn't...

His eyes shift down to his hands, where the small marks left behind by the ring still linger. That had caused more damage to Ardyn, so... maybe it wouldn't be entirely impossible to permanently hurt him if it came to that. Not enough to finish the job, though, he's certain of that.]

[Gladio's expression softened some then, and before he could stop himself, he reached out and covered one of Noct's hands with his.]

Together... I think we could give it a damn good shot.

But, hopefully, won't have to test that out.

[Noctis starts at the contact, unable to help himself, eyes going wide as he looks down at their joined hands. He doesn't pull away, he's just... stunned. He's not usually the recipient of this sort of gentleness from Gladio.

It takes him a few seconds to find his voice.]

Gladio... are you sure you're okay?

Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?

[But of course, as he speaks, he pulls his hand back and sits back. It had been a calculated risk, and it had fallen through. A tactical retreat was imminent.]

But hey, thanks for the tea.

Uh... oh. Sure.

[He's not sure what he did, or what Gladio expected of him, but it feels distinctly as if he'd failed some kind of test he didn't know was happening.]

It's, um. It's okay if you need time for whatever. Or if you need us to do anything. You know that, right?

[He smiled. He didn't much expect anything, if he was honest, he was the one that needed time to adjust, not the other way around.

Gladio finished the last of his tea and set the empty cup on the table.]

Time... yeah. I know, Noct.

[On his feet, he hesitated before moving.]

... You'll have to forgive me, Noct. A lot changed in four months. Me, especially... That's my problem though. Just give me time. I'll work it out.

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