[Once all the shitstorms and chaos wore off, the next day found an open cookbook on the kitchen counter, beside what appeared to be a reasonably held-together cake. He might have been a little inexperienced with cooking, but Ardyn was also a) a scientist and b) incredibly stubborn. (This particular cake was attempt #4.) A note was beside it, reading It's Yuuri's, touch it and you'll deal with her instead of me. -Ardyn]
[Luscinia was on the table nearby, nesting in a scarf left there for precisely that reason...which also meant the sigil low on the back of Ardyn's neck was partially visible under his shirt collar.]
[The culprit himself was sitting at a table, head resting on folded arms and very definitely asleep. Because some things did not change across one hundred and something generations.]
[ To say that there's a lot going on here would be an understatement. Noctis had come in here maybe to make tea or some pancakes for everyone, whatever he could reasonably toss together. Instead, he finds first a cake, and then Ardyn fast asleep at the table.
... And that sigil.
Noctis gets to work. He makes a cup of hot tea for Ardyn--rosehip with a bit of honey--and sets it near him before going to start the dishes. It's the least he can do to give a hand; Yl'lb's letting them stay here, even if the space pirate crew is holing up in their ship. ]
[are you prepared to have a newfound respect for ignis 'team mom' scientia]
[because waking up a lucis caelum is fucking impossible.]
[Ardyn would, in fact, sleep right through Noctis doing the dishes--though Luscinia didn't, ruffling her feathers and regarding Noctis with the most suspicious look a bird was capable of before fluttering over to land on his shoulder.]
Keeping me company? Or just there to make sure I'm on my best behavior around him?
[ Both are incredibly valid. Noctis takes a moment to pause the dishes so he can dry his hands and go over to the refrigerator. He looks at Luscinia. ]
[You fool. You absolute fucking walnut. (Walnoct?) You have been used for the most devious mama bird's cunning plan. Which was 'I just woke up and I'm hungry'. Nefarious.]
[Either way, Ardyn finally stirred at that, blinking a few times as he focused on Noctis and looking slightly more confused than your average person who had been sound asleep.]
Fratri c-?
[The briefly muttered ancient language was cut off sharply as he woke up a bit more, pressing a hand to his eyes and shaking his head.]
I, er-...sorry, I've not slept all that much the past week or so.
[ Noctis looks over when Ardyn talks, and he's quiet. He doesn't miss the slip up, and while he's not fluent in the ancient language, he knows what fratri means. He's heard it before, when his father spoke to Gladio's dad, and something nudges at the edges of his memory.
You'll never guess whose name Izunia was.
Ardyn's still full of mysteries, it seems. Noctis isn't sure how to even breach the subject ask if his suspicions are right. It's not the kind of conversation anyone'd like to have over breakfast. ]
It's alright. Your bird kept me company. She's a smart one.
[It took a second or two for Ardyn to ground himself in reality most of the time, never mind after he just woke up. The mistake only lasted a second or two, but even that was long enough to leave him quietly scrambling to pull himself back together. He took a deep breath, pushed his hair back out of his face, and looked back to Noctis with a hesitant smile to cover the rest.]
She's hardly a chocobo, but she's been a good companion all the same.
Our...second week, I think it was? For some insane reason Kip decided to surprise us with essentially a flock of them, and I ended up with Luscinia. The others are around somewhere as well, usually outside.
Stand outside with something edible for more than two minutes, you'll likely have four or five scrambling to sit on your head.
[is that a suggestion or a warning about how not to be attacked by space pigeons? yes.]
[Ardyn laughed awkwardly, idly rubbing the back of his neck. ..Then, following two seconds of silent panic upon realizing Noctis had probably seen something he'dbeen trying to cover, he surreptitiously reached for the orange scarf to pull it back into place.]
[Why is this his luck. Ardyn was never going to be equipped for awkward conversations with his former mortal enemy, but this one least of all.]
...Junpei asked me if the Kingsglaive had any identifiable mark or sigil, before we left that mansion. I gave it to him, and not that long ago they insisted upon the four of us matching. Admittedly I thought it was in somewhat poor taste on my own part after-... [you know what's worse breakfast conversation? Insomnia.] ...well, the point is they're very hard to dissuade once they get going.
[ This conversation's just full of yikes, ain't it. ]
Yeah, I got that. They're about as stubborn as the guys. [ He pauses to make himself a cup of tea and sit across from Ardyn. ] You picked a good Glaive.
...I wasn't like you, Noctis. I didn't truly have close companions even when I was still human. [The admission was quiet and came with a strangely serene look on Ardyn's face, Luscinia all but inhaling the last few pieces of space fruit before perching back on his shoulder.] This fractured and broken little family are the first friends that I have ever had.
Were it not for them, I have no doubt I would not be alive right now. Which, surprisingly, is a concept I've grown quite attached to over the past months. There is next to nothing in the universe that I would not do for their sake.
[ He listens--not just to what Ardyn's saying, but how he says it. There's a softness and warmth to his voice that Noctis hasn't heard himself, and he nods. ]
You deserve it. And you're lucky to have each other. [ He sips at his tea. ] I guess that's one thing we can thank these network assholes for, huh?
[One of these days, maybe his own voice would stop coming back to mock him at the least opportune times. But it certainly wouldn't be anytime soon, and it would definitely not be today. Ardyn gave a tired laugh and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was trying to ward off a headache.]
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