lifenet | istones: 8.26

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istones: 8.26

Hey guys, 's Gladio. Got some new gear that'll make construction easier. And a rain barrel so we can haul a much larger quantity of river water over from Enso. Planning to set up another shower and water filter on the little islands, votes on which one?

And while I've got your attention I wanted to see who'd be up for helping me fix up the temple some. Tory -erm I mean The Storyteller's- been busting their butt looking after us, only feels right we should do something for them. Maybe... trying to make friends with them too, guys. They kinda think we all hate them.

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Ardyn...

[He's quiet for a long moment, trying to decide what pieces of that diatribe are worth answering, how much of it is just the constant need to remind others of how he was wronged and what he's become is not his fault. And what parts of it are things that actually need answering, acknowledgment.

As much as he immediately wants to insist that it's not all he has left he's pretty sure that's also exactly what Ignis would do and trying to prove to him that he has so much more is doing nothing to convince him. Maybe nothing will convince him but shoving what should be obvious truths in his face is certainly not going to accomplish anything.

It's uncommon for Ardyn to let himself be anything close to vulnerable around others so hearing him sound just as tired and despairing as Gladio knows he is settles like a weight in his chest. And he answers just as softly, wishing there were something he could do.]

I know...

Nothing can fix the past so I won't pretend to be able to help there. And I can't blame you for not giving a shit about Lucis or Eos or anyone, really.

[A brief hesitation, a soft sigh.]

I just wish there was something I could do to help.

...you can't. There's no one who can--I'm simply stuck like this, a puppet of one divine force or another yet again, and there's no way out of it.

It's not fair.

[Half snarled under his breath and there's a dull thud as he slams a fist onto the workbench he's leaning against.]

I'm sorry. [Guess he'll just never be able to do right by any Lucis Caelum.]

Life is unfair.

[On Ardyn's side was the faint rustle of feathers and affectionate click of a chocobo's beak as Hresvelgr settled in next to him.]

The world is an indiscriminately cruel place, and it is ever the selfless who learn that lesson the hardest.

Isn't it just?

[Soft and bitter, something that he'd never have agreed with ten years ago. But the Night changed a lot of things.]

[Ardyn sighed, the sound halfway to a short and bitter laugh.]

...What are you even apologizing for? None of you make any sense.

[There's been so much truth telling and soul searching lately he just sighs and shrugs, even if Ardyn can't see it. What is the point in lying about any of it?]

For... not being able to live up to the legacy, I guess?

You want to be dead and I have no right to keep on living. [Not when his King is dead. Which hasn't technically happened yet for him but it had happened for Noct which came out to the same thing, in the end. A matter of hours between them at best.

Some part of him knows that it doesn't really make sense but... at the same time it makes so much sense.]

. . .

[Dead silence.]

Are all Shields traditionally dense idiots?

[hey, at least he sounds a little less despondent]

I dunno my dad practically did my job and Iggy's.

[A pause.

Wait...]

What did I do this time?

I thought it quite obvious. You should know better to talk like that where the advisor can hear you. He'd be quite distressed to know you thought such a thing of yourself. And if that happened then, well, I'd just have to kill you. Can't be helped.

[...Ardyn was perhaps at his most pleasant when mocking other people, and yet this strangely walked the line between mockery and a legitimate joke.]

And I'm quite sure I could take you even if Gil couldn't get the job done. But then it would be a whole production, I'd have to wash blood out of my coat and everyone would start overreacting as though the genocidal murderer had done something out of the ordinary. So perhaps you should spare us all the dramatics, reconsider, and leave the resignation to the immortals.

[For a moment Gladio has absolutely no idea what to do with this abrupt change of pace. If he didn't know better he'd almost suspect that Ardyn was trying to cheer him up.

But surely that's not the case.

Still, he'll let the shift in tone stay, just smirking slightly, just enough to hear it in his voice.]

Well then lucky for both of us he's back home and I'm up at the shop.

But don't worry, I know I'm no match for either of you when it comes to dramatics~

Correct, you haven't an elegant bone in your body. If you even tried as much you'd likely trip and break your neck.

Nope, Iris got all the elegance. I'm just... a behemoth.

[As the guys so frequently remind him.]

Oh, that's practically charitable. I'd say you've all the grace and tact of the adamantoise, and you're just as much a widespread menace.

[Okay Ardyn he's not only graceless but he's also not nearly up to maintaining this level of banter with you.]

Wow that's cold, man.

[But he's laughing as he says it.]

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istones: 8.26

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