#stxrshell

rip to you but that reminds me of another pun! AHEM! hey, dude i never learned the name of, /ice/ to meet'cha!

*          An honest to gods snort   curls from his throat at that awful pun. He gives the other man a look with a glint of mischief, and a bit of exasperation.

It had taken him quite some time to arrive. He wouldn't lie, it was difficult to navigate this new place he had found himself in- and the worry that plagues his chest does nothing to help him. He's rattled, he's lost composure. 

Prompto, Gladio anger and worry mingling in the static noises of the intercom urging Ignis to pick up if he heard them, if he still could, but at that moment, in-between the destruction of Altissia and the empire; Ignis' mind was somewhere else.

In the words of the late King Regis, bless his soul. 

'I leave him in your care.'

He should have known better than to race, he should have listened to his companions, he should have done many things, perhaps his memory wouldn't fail him if he did, perhaps his world wouldn't have gone dark. How did that happen?

It still burns him when thanks to kind locals and patient directions he makes it to designated housing, finding the key in his pocket and opening the door to a familiar smell of ramen noodles, a familiar voice, and a familiar song.

I just want to ride my Chocobo all day,

the first thing noctis had a mind to do after waking up with a pounding pain in his skull and being bombarded with all manner of confusing information was to sit cross-legged on the concrete with his head in his hands.

it’s all been too much, too fast. how is he supposed to get his bearings when his mind is somewhere else entirely? the same pressure liable to crush him before cartanica has come back in full force. it takes great effort for him to push himself to his feet, and his heart feeling like it’s about to explode doesn’t help.

the sooner he figures out what’s going on, the sooner he can find a way to get home. noctis tries to hold onto that thought, but he still drags his feet. being on his own (for real this time, not just some exercise cor came up with) is terrifying. how could he have been so stupid?

he doesn’t even know what he needs to be looking for, or who to ask for help. he knows what he wants to do, but feels entirely aimless. finally deciding that it would be a good idea to do something for the throbbing in his head before trying to be any semblance of coherent about his predicament to strangers, noctis all but shuffles into a corner store.

he navigates first to the aspirin, and next to the drink cooler. the clerk takes a little pity on him, being in pain that he is, and doesn’t charge him. taking a seat on a bench just outside, he cracks open his soda bottle and takes the pills, hoping the sugar would be enough to stop them from making his stomach upset.

those hopes are quickly dashed for another reason altogether, his insides tying themselves into a knot when his eyes catch prompto across the street.

noctis finds himself somewhere between relieved and petrified. 

this isn’t something he wants to run away from, no matter how hard his body feels like it wants to. he has to make sure that this is real, that prompto is okay.

Okay so first he got dumped in this weird ass city that already had an apartment set up for him, his stun baton is who knows where, and he has no idea what’s going on. So weirdly enough, this was not the strangest thing that had ever happened to Rhys, but it was definitely in the top ten.

So he guessed he would... he didn’t know what exactly. Try and fit in? Act natural? Whatever. Until he could figure out how he ended up in here that is. Maybe the vault... Hmm...

Okay so best thing to do is try and make allies right? Mr. Rhys ‘Cool As Ice’ Strongfork could get to know people! He could make more than the one friend he had! See look over there! A guy waiting for his coffee. You have a cool vest, he has a cool vest, you were vest bros!

Rhys leaned absolutely not nonchalantly on the counter, maybe missing it the first time with his elbow and trying not to fall over as he ordered his usual. A coffee with ten sugars.

“Hey so uh how... how weird is this city right? It’s.... It’s sure something...”

absolutely.

Knock out on the floor together so you know it’s real.

---

because noct is one of those (shrug) ya okay i’ll do the thing it’s w/e, kind of dudes.