[Noctis]

[thatsthespirit]

[a post for private convos with Noctis!]

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week 5, monday afternoon sometime idk

[thatsthespirit]

[SO sometime on Monday afternoon, a certain Lord of Spirits is searching for a certain graveyard tromping urban prince!! she, of course, waits until he has a chance to clean up from the morning's excursions to track him down at the hotel]

Good afternoon, Noctis. Are you keeping busy?

[elemancy]

[and this is fine by him. he's now fresh, clean and... less pale than he had been earlier in the day.]

Oh, Milla—hey. [she'll get a casual enough wave—at least today he's not in the worst spirits ever.]

Busy enough, I guess. It's not like there's all that much going on right now, at least.

[thatsthespirit]

[she can't help but chuckle a bit as she folds her arms over her torso. although the movement hurts due to her injury. . . and so she's forced to drop her arms to her sides. one day, she'll learn]

I almost feel as though the quiet is a well-deserved reprieve. We should savor it as much as we can.

[since, you know. it probably won't last]

[elemancy]

You got that right. I'm willing to bet it's not gonna last.

[he may as well say what they're both already thinking, right? either way—he winces a little seeing the way she moves.]

How are you holding up, anyway? [she seems largely okay, but it's pretty clear that her injury got her pretty good.]

[thatsthespirit]

I wouldn't take that bet, because I know you'd win it.

[plus she just isn't really a gambling woman, but you know]

I'm fine now. It doesn't hurt just to walk around and breathe anymore, but I do have to be careful not to agitate it. I'm certain I still have a few more weeks before I'm back to full health.

[the bruises haven't even begun to fade yet, but that's because it hasn't even been a week]

[elemancy]

[he nods at that—he's glad she's at least doing better, even if it's worrisome. but he has to ask, a bit curiously.]

...Was it worth it? [getting injured—did she actually get anything out of it aside from that injury?

it's not a judgmental question, at least. he understands why people keep doing these things and he can't say there's not going to be a time or circumstance where he wouldn't do the same. but there's a lot on the line, and he's aware of what a disadvantage he's at right now, so it's a bit tough for him to be as bold or fearless about it.]

[thatsthespirit]

Yes.

[she answers that without hesitation, without any sense of remorse or regret. knowing there's a lot on the line and being aware of her disadvantage merely propels Milla forward. she isn't afraid to be bold or fearless]

Even if we didn't discover anything immediately useful in the gunsmith, simply opening the building means we're one step closer to turning over every moss-covered rock in this town.

[elemancy]

[honestly, noct could probably take a lesson or two from milla in that regard. he's not quite there yet—though he really needs to be.]

You think we'll actually find anything in any of those places, though? I mean... aside from a good way to lose a limb or two.

[thatsthespirit]

I do.

After all. . . when Shinnosuke and Jason opened the post office, several of us received letters from those who had died.

[and THAT is useful, even if those letters were censored. or at least, Milla's was]

[elemancy]

...Guess you've got a point there.

[funny too, because he was the recipient of a letter as well. one that was also heavily censored.]

I wonder if there's really anything else that'll come from the other building like that. It's... pretty weird.

[thatsthespirit]

One of the buildings is a mortician, correct? Perhaps. . . opening up that building will somehow assist those who have died.

[she doesn't know, it's just a thought]

I'm not really sure about the cinema and the restaurant, though. Or the unmarked buildings.

[elemancy]

Knowing this place, someone will lose a leg going into the cinema so we can get free movies and popcorn.

[that... doesn't seem like a worthwhile endeavor.]

The other stuff seemed practical... not really sure if a restaurant or a cinema's gonna give us much.

[thatsthespirit]

[oh my god. she tries not to laugh, because laughing too hard can hurt her ribs. also: it's dark humor, she shouldn't laugh at someone losing a leg!]

We won't know until we try it, at any rate. [and, slightly frustrated] But I'm unable to explore any other buildings myself this week. Perhaps the next, too. I have to leave the task to those much more capable than I.

week 6, friday AT SOME POINT THAT WORKS BEST FOR ALY

[thatsthespirit]

[OKAY LIKE. SOMETIME BEFORE THE BOUNTY MEETING, Milla is knocking on Noctis's door. she really hopes Ash isn't home, gosh]

[elemancy]

[she'll manage to catch him at a time when ash isn't in the room.]

It's unlocked, come in—

[he'll just kind of call that out from where he is, which happens to be laying flat on his back on the bed with his eyes closed.

he's not asleep—he's just pretty bothered by the whole situation. worried about what's going to happen with a dead deputy, upset they lost one of their own roles, upset that it's another friend gone.

(regardless of what shinnosuke would have classed it as.)]

[thatsthespirit]

[she opens the door slowly, closes it quietly behind her. the ginger footsteps across the floor probably give away Noctis's visitor, even though his eyes are closed. she sits at the edge of his bed, at the very bottom, so as not to disturb him]

[and then, she sighs]

[who cares if it hurts. she needs to sigh]

You too, I see. . .

[elemancy]

[don't keep doing things to aggravate the injury, milla!

either way, realizing it's her, noct will push himself to sit up, giving her at least that much—it's not really the time to mope, and he knows it...

but it's also kind of hard to help.]

Hard not to, right? Whatever happened last night... it's bad for all of us.

[thatsthespirit]

[SHE WILL AGGRAVATE IT UNTIL IT'S COMPLETELY HEALED GDMIT!!]

It is.

[they lost a Bounty. lost the Deputy. lost their easiest win condition. and their Doctor, Natalie, would likely be implicated in Hannibal's murder. . . just judging from that scene]

We have much to talk about as a group. We need to figure out where we can go from here.

[elemancy]

[stop causing him needless worry with it!!]

Yeah. We'll talk about that later—once we're all together.

[it's probably better to not get too much into that part now, not when they'll have to rehash it in a little while anyway.

but noct can't hold back his feelings entirely, which is why after a moment, he almost brokenly speaks again.]

Dammit. [his voice is definitely wavering a bit, try as he might to keep it steady.] The hell happened last night? Why was that idiot even out there?

[obviously, there are concerns about who went after hannibal, and who killed xion too.

but shinnouke is one of theirs. it's different, in every single way, and even if that kid was a pain in the ass...

he was their friend, right?]

[thatsthespirit]

[. . . yeah. as raring as she is to get to work so she can get her mind off of this week's losses, there will be time for that later. as strong and level-headed as Milla is trying to remain, she is just as affected by Shinnosuke's (and Xion's, honestly) death too]

[Shinnosuke may have denied it, but he was their ally. is their ally. his loss. . . well. they can feel it, in the echoes of the empty spaces of the room where he used to be]

I wish I knew.

[she says quietly, almost to herself]

If he was chosen by a Bandit, then there might not have been anything for us to do to save him in the first place.

[elemancy]

I know...

[really, in effect... he knows that. but it doesn't stop his head from dipping as he pulls up his knees to rest his forehead against them.

he'd really rather avoid getting too emotional in front of milla—generally he would like to avoid that in front of anyone, but he knows this is tough for her too. that last week was tough.

that every week is tough.]

We can't catch a single break in this hellhole, ever.

[thatsthespirit]

[he might feel Milla place her hand on the top of his head. physical proximity has become quite a comfort for her in this hell hole of a western town, and she's still testing it out on others to see if they feel the same]

We'll end this. Somehow, some way. They're counting on us.

[elemancy]

[unlike other people, noct doesn't seem to shy away from it. despite the fact that he is the sort to normally fluster a bit at stuff like that, if anything, right now? noct seems to actually relax a little more.

it's definitely a comfort, one he hadn't even considered he could need—given how it's usually not his first option.]

They are. And... I don't want to let them down. Not the ones who are still alive, and not... the ones we lost, either.

[thatsthespirit]

[head pats for Noct, then! she proceeds to run her fingers through his hair, an attempt at being soothing]

We won't let them down. If we keep trying, keep reassessing our angle of approach to this game, we'll figure out a solution. I just know we will.

[elemancy]

[it definitely helping a bit—strangely enough, and more than he would have expected.

for someone who isn't human, milla's understanding of how to be soothing to someone in need it really pretty amazing.]

We have to. We... can't give up on saving them. Not after everything they've done.

[he doesn't want those sacrifices to be for nothing, nor does he want the efforts they've been putting forth. they've worked so hard since finding one another to try and protect people—they can't let that go to waste.]