those rebellious teenage years come a-calling

[carbungle]

♥ Who: Noctis and Ardyn
♥ Where: Regis & Ardyn's place, woo
♥ When: /NONCOMMITTAL HAND WOBBLE, some time in September
♥ What: Some talking! About important things! AKA: "would you like to try a little blasphemy, as a treat"
♥ Rating: idk PG at least, probably


[It's well after his birthday - and post-afterglow of what a damn good day he'd had, because he'd wanted to ride that wave as long as he could without ruining it - that Noctis finally resolves himself to have a talk he'd been rather anxious about for... well, probably a few months now. It had started out as just a theorized thing between he and Pyra, something to work on in the background. But the truth is, if they really want to go for it - really, really make a solid effort - they'll need extra help. They'll need Ardyn on board. And he doesn't know what that means, he doesn't have a plan or a method or anything, but.

But.

He really wants to try, turns out.

And so, one particular afternoon when he knows Regis will be manning the potion shop, Noctis ventures over to the house and knocks on the door (rather than letting himself in, which might indicate things are more serious today). Should Ardyn open the door to invite him in, he'll be greeted by an awkward shuffle and an offered bottle of some of this really nice fruit wine from Shoremere, almost like an apology.]

Hey. You free for one of those talks?

Comments

[iustaegis]

[ Pyra doesn't have a problem with it, but she'll defer to Noctis and Ardyn on this of which switch to hit first, and how.

She is curious about that statue, though. ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis gestures for him to go ahead. Ardyn's shadowy step isn't really any more creepy than the rest of this place, and it's not even a power he remembers Izunia using. If it helps them, why the hell not use it? (He can keep his saltiness about that power working to himself, if he must.)]

Go for it. The sooner we get answers, the better, right?

[scourgingstars]

If you say so.

[Moving horizontally was a little more difficult than simply up or down, but he hadn't spent late nights practicing at the arena for nothing. Ardyn took a breath to quickly collect himself, then disappeared in a flash of shadow that moved in the blink of an eye, crossing the room and hitting the switch before rematerializing.]

apologies!! was swamped this weekend ;;

[iustaegis]

[ That's one switch down, and the heavy sound the switch makes after being activated is one of progress.

Pyra looks for the other, or whatever obvious path there is towards the next one. ]

smooches u both

[carbungle]

[Scarcely a moment after Ardyn hits the switch, a huge wrecking ball drops from a chain out of the darkness of the ceiling and slams down onto the bearded statue left of the entrance with a tremendous crash. Noctis staggers back in surprise.]

Whoa, what the hell!? Is this place supposed to destroy itself?

[As the dust and the broken pieces settle, he glances at the other two briefly then jogs back up the walkway to see the destruction from above. The path that the statue had been blocking is accessible now, with the arm leading up to another switch, right beneath an intricately designed golden door. It looks just like the Solheim symbols he'd seen in other ruins, and it usually signified "more stuff through here", in his experience.]

...Yeah, uh. That looks like the next path. Hang on, I got this one.

[He'll just... start climbing. Sure, it would be easy to make Ardyn grab them all, but a man's got his pride.]

u3u

[scourgingstars]

What th--

[Vanishing and manifesting back up with the others, he at least looked embarrassed about the sudden minor catastrophe.]

...I did not break that on purpose.

[iustaegis]

[ When Noctis hits the next switch, allowing a giant, heavy sphere to knock the golden door down, she follows the path down to where he lands. ] There's more...

[ She notes the ray-like design on the door itself as they step over it, entering the next area, as well as the red, floating substance on either side of the entrance. ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis ducks hastily as the ball from the entrance comes flying at him, but it soars harmlessly overhead to knock the door down. As he straightens up, he exhales a huff - annoyed, relieved, seriously what is this place? - and heads into the next area with the others. He approaches the strange, red-aired zone on either side, cautiously reaching a hand out to try and find out what it might be (and hoping it isn't some kind of magic vaporizing field) but his hand won't go any further than the start of the red. He pushes against it, but it resists him like a stone wall, firm and immovable.]

That's... weird. [What else is new with this place.] Guess this place has some anti-cheat tech. I've seen magic shields before, but they didn't look anything like this.

[Lucian shields were transparent, crystalline, like refined stained glass. This has a sickly feel to it, and his hand tingles uncomfortably as he pulls it away. Up ahead, the small thin platforms lead to a more open area, more of those glowing hot spikes that fade in and out of view, and... something floating? Are those bugs?]